Pretty Kagome
by SugarRos
Summary: CANCELED! Pretty Kagome: Revised is now up! InuYasha stumbles upon a rare beauty... who just happens to make a living out of selling her body. But he has a strange feeling about her... And he soon finds himself wanting to protect her with his life.
1. Ramen Stand

Hey guys, It's Goddess InuYasha here. You all probably don't know who I am, although I used to be here under a different name. ^^ Anyway, this fic was inspired by Pretty Woman, one of my favorite movies out there! I hope you guys like it! ^^  
  
*Goddess InuYasha*  
  
Disclaimer: InuYasha and Co. Do not belong to me. They all belong to Takahashi Rumiko. But that doesn't mean I can't play around with them all, right? Hee hee.  
  
*Pretty Kagome*  
  
Chapter one: Ramen Stand  
  
It's not like I wanted my life to be like this.  
  
I never wanted to end up here, on the streets, fighting for my life...  
  
As well as the life of my younger brother.  
  
And it's not like I wanted to do what I do.  
  
I never wanted to be this dirty, my clothes too tight, my lipstick too red....  
  
As well as my body being sold for as much money as I can ask for....  
  
Which, when I think about it, isn't very much at all.  
  
I remember when life was so much better than it is now.  
  
I remember not worrying about feeding myself or my brother.  
  
I remember when I actually went to school and did homework and chores and went to the movies and concerts with friends.....  
  
And now when I look back on those memories, I laugh.  
  
Because I was so fucking naive and innocent and had no idea how the world really worked.  
  
.....But now I do....  
  
And god I wish more than anything that I could pick up my brother from the orphanage where he was placed and carry him back home and lay him down in his warm bed and tell him reassuringly that everything would forevermore be okay. That he'd no longer be hungry and feel pain. That he'd have a place with an actual non-leaky roof and walls to live in, and a fireplace to warm himself by, and a microwave to heat up as many cans of chicken-broth soup as he wanted. That he'd never be beaten and mistreated by the headmistress of the orphanage ever again.  
  
But I understood that none of what I dreamt will ever happen.  
  
Because I knew deep down inside that I'd forevermore be doing what I was doing.  
  
That until I was old and ugly, I'd have to live the life that I lived and hope that my brother found himself a better life away from me...  
  
Because an eleven-year-old shouldn't have to watch his seventeen-year-old sister step into a limo or a fancy sports car and drive off, only to come back a half an hour later with a fist full of cash and a broken spirit.  
  
Not to mention sometimes a broken body....  
  
But still, I continued to walk those streets, on and on and on....  
  
On and on and on and on....  
  
There's a song that my mom used to sing to me....  
  
All I could remember was the tune, though. And one line.... On and on and on and on....  
  
But that was enough to get me though each day.  
  
Souta.....  
  
For you, I'll walk on and on and on and on....  
  
~*~  
  
It's not easy being one of the most eligible bachelors in Tokyo, you know.  
  
For one thing, all these ugly, fake, air-headed women keep trying to 'snag' me.  
  
Let me ask you, what the hell do these damn wenches think they're playing at?  
  
Do they really believe that if they show some skin and offer me pleasure they're going to get my money? My house and a few nice cars and a large pool and a set income for life?  
  
Fuck that.  
  
I didn't want to marry anyone.  
  
I liked being single.  
  
Of course, that could be just because I had yet to find a woman with an intelligence level higher than a five-year-old. How sad is that?  
  
I'd courted girls before, of course. There was one time I actually thought I was in love.  
  
Love.....  
  
That emotion, I later found out, doesn't exist at all.  
  
Being twenty-two and all, my father insisted that I at least find someone new to court so the public didn't think I was gay or had testicular cancer.  
  
Which is ridiculous.  
  
I am nowhere near being gay. But if I even seemed to be gay, my father insisted that it would ruin his reputation.  
  
I disagree.  
  
I believed that his numbers in popularity would grow, since being gay seemed to be plenty popular those days.  
  
But whatever. I'm not gay, and I assure you that I did not have testicular cancer.  
  
Anyway, back to the point. I didn't like women crawling all over me because I happed to look good in spandex. (Or so they said in CosmoGirl.)  
  
Playgirl actually wanted me to be a centerfold in their magazine. Thankfully, that was one thing my father disagreed with.  
  
I was at a party earlier that night, which is why I ended up driving around the slums of Tokyo, trying to find a decent ramen joint. Visiting the slums always calmed me down. Probably because it reminded me that even though my life sucked, I still had a bed to sleep in and all. Which half of the people living in the slums didn't.  
  
It was already dark outside, and the streets were lined with lamps that flickered on and off and neon signs for pubs and strip clubs. And there, on the corner at the end of the street stood a ramen stand.  
  
Perfect.  
  
I had to park a few blocks back, due to those less fortunate sleeping in the gutters. I didn't feel much like running any of them over with my Nisan Skyline GTR, a twenty-first birthday gift from daddy-dear.  
  
I stepped out of my car and into the brisk night air, walking quickly, trying not to look anyone in the eyes. Eye contact makes the homeless think you're willing to give money, so they bother you more.  
  
I should have gone straight home after I left the party. I should have settled for plain, old instant ramen. Because what happened next I never would have expected.  
  
And it definitely changed my life.  
  
"Stop it! Please, just leave me alone!"  
  
"Shut up, slut! You should be used to this by now! You do it for a living, don't you?!"  
  
"Please! Please, I have a younger brother to feed! If you're going to do anything, at least... At least..."  
  
"What? Pay you?"  
  
The voice of the young girl who was being hassled wavered and she let out a sob. "Please!"  
  
Three other voices laughed. "Bitch. Why should we pay you for any of this? You're lucky that you came across us instead of someone who wanted to kill you instead!"  
  
Another male voice. "Yeah. And not all of us have made up our minds to keep you alive." They laughed again.  
  
Well, crap.  
  
Now what?  
  
I probably would have been better off just walking by and letting the guys have their fun. More than likely, the girl was a druggie anyway, and was going to die in a few years whether she was raped and killed or not.  
  
"Fuck." I growled out. I just couldn't let it happen. I turned down the ally way that the voices were coming from, to see a young girl forced to her knees with three thugs standing around her with their jeans unzipped, ready to whip out their packages and have some fun. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? A local gang-bang?"  
  
The three guys all turned their heads to look at me, surprised. I don't think that they were expecting anyone to interrupt them.  
  
"Who the fuck are you?!"  
  
I grinned. "No one you know." I paused. "Probably." Okay, maybe I was having too much fun with all of this, but it had been a while since I had been in a fight. Not since high school, actually, and I had some excess energy I needed to get rid of. My I'm-about-to-have-some-fun-kicking-ass grin faltered when the girl whimpered, still held down by two of the guys.  
  
"Please..." She barely whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. "Please help me..." A new flow of tears slid silently down her cheeks.  
  
Well, fuck. Now it became serious.  
  
"Mister, you've walked into the wrong ally." He turned to his sidekicks. "Kill him."  
  
They ran at me.  
  
I smirked.  
  
From the way they attacked me, it was easy to tell that none of them had been trained like I had, so they were all quite easy to deal with.  
  
They were all unconscious in three seconds flat.  
  
Okay, more like three minuets, but they were dealt with rather quickly either way.  
  
After I was done, I straightened myself and brushed off my five hundred dollar pants. I was about to leave, when the girl who I'd forgotten about in my frenzy of attackers spoke to me.  
  
"Who.... Who are you?"  
  
I raised my eyebrows and turned to her. "That's none of your business." I paused. "Need some help up?" I held out my hand, not really thinking at the time that I could have easily caught whatever disease she might have been carrying, and lifted her onto her feet.  
  
"Th-thank you." She smiled a small smile. "My name is Kagome."  
  
~*~  
  
I had been standing outside for who-knows how long before it happened. They had lured me into the ally way, telling me that I'd only have to give a blow job for one hundred dollars. That was easy work for one hundred, so I accepted and followed, which I admit was rather stupid of me. As soon as I was far enough into the ally, two more came out of the shadows and surrounded me.  
  
I was about to be raped.  
  
Again.  
  
And then, out of nowhere, he came along, tall and strong, and very brave.  
  
Not to mention rude.  
  
Not that I had any right to complain, since I had just been saved by him.  
  
"Who.... Who are you?" I asked, awed at the power that seemed to be glowing from him.  
  
He raised his eyebrows and turned to glare at me. "That's none of your business." He paused. "Need some help up?" He held out his hand to me, and lifted me onto my feet.  
  
"Th-thank you." I smiled a small smile, a little intimidated at his strength. "My name is Kagome." It was the first time I had gotten a good look at him. He had long, flowing, pure white hair. I would have thought 'albino' but his skin had a slightly tanned tone to it. He also had slightly golden eyes, almost amber-ish. And then I saw the top of his head.  
  
Ears. On his head.  
  
Crap. He was a demon.  
  
What did he want? Did he save me so that he could take me himself? I started to panic, wondering if I would die. Would he rape me and then kill me? And then what if he went after my brother?  
  
I started to shake all over, my throat becoming dry, my eyes moistening with tears. "Please." I started to beg again. "Please just don't hurt me."  
  
The demon looked slightly confused, tilting his head, kind of like a puppy. Then it was as if realization dawned on him. His right hand went self-consciously to his ears, and his eyes narrowed to slits. "Ah." He said, in a deep, silky voice. "I see. Well, I'll be going now." And with that, he turned and left.  
  
I was stunned. It was almost like I had hurt his feelings. But that couldn't be. He was a demon, after all, and demons didn't have feelings to hurt. I had an urge to go after him. Ask him why he hadn't attacked me or hurt or tried to eat me. I'd heard of that happening before, a demon eating a human.  
  
So why hadn't this one eaten me?  
  
The urge was strong, but I really didn't want to push my luck. After all, a demon was a demon and I knew that if I went after him like some kind of puppy, he'd eat me for sure. So no, I wouldn't follow him. I'd stay here, safe.  
  
At least, that's what I had decided until one of my attempt rapers stirred and let out a painful groan. After all, I figured that if the demon had helped me before, he'd help me out again, right?  
  
I wish I would have been more sure, but I rushed out of the ally way as fast as I could on my stilettoes. Those things are really hard to walk on, mush less run on, by the way. I turned around the corner, and my spirits fell, noticing that he was nowhere to be found.  
  
The men were starting to stand now, feeling each broken bone and cursing, not quite understanding what had happened. That was it. I ran off down the street towards a ramen stand. Maybe whoever was working there would help me.  
  
Most likely he wouldn't, though. I was a prostitute, and us sex-sellers weren't good for the ramen business. Nonetheless, I ducked under the curtain flap and jumped, surprised to find the very demon who had saved me.  
  
He turned to glare at me, raising his eyebrow as he had done before. "You again?" He asked, roughly.  
  
I was stunned speechless. He was beautiful. I couldn't really notice his facial features in the dim light of the street lamps, but in the bright lighting of the ramen stand, his chiseled face made me blush. "Uh.." Was the smart word that came from my mouth.  
  
"Listen, I'm not interested, okay? Besides, it seems to me that you're afraid of me."  
  
"I- I'm not." I stuttered out. Which was a complete lie. I was terrified of him. But at the same time, something about him made me feel calm. Almost tranquil. Of course, with that added sense of panic.  
  
He snorted. "Whatever, wench." He paused, looking at my face. My heart sped up, and it took me a few minuets to notice why. He was looking into my eyes. Nowhere else. Not my legs or my crotch, or my breasts. It was the first time in a long time any man had looked at me that way. He sighed, after hearing my stomach grumble. "You hungry?"  
  
"No." I said, on reflex, putting up a defense that now came naturally to me. Of course, my stomach disagreed with me loudly.  
  
He let out a sharp laugh. "Right. Sit down, girl. Eat something."  
  
My cheeks flushed. "Um... Well..." Was all I could manage.  
  
He glared at me again. "Sit."  
  
I sat.  
  
My cheeks were still beat red. What was going on? Why was he being so nice? Was he waiting until my defenses were down so he could strike?  
  
No, that was dumb. I didn't have any defenses to take down.  
  
"What type of ramen do you like? Chicken? Beef? Shrimp?" Although the words were nice enough, his voice was rough and uncaring.  
  
I didn't answer him. I was too scared. Too confused. What was going on? What was I doing sitting in a ramen stand with a demon?  
  
"Okay." He said, obviously irritated at my lack of response. "Hey, Jiji! Gimmie two beef ramen! Make mine extra spicy!"  
  
"Hai, hai." The old man said, turning to us. I could only imagine what we looked like, sitting together, a well-dressed demon boy and a barely-dressed human girl. His eyes fell on me and his face hardened. "You!" He said, pointing at me. "Out!"  
  
I blinked a few times, surprised, then slowly stood to leave. I should have expected it. I would scare away the costumers, plus, it wasn't like I had the money to pay for a bowl of ramen anyway. But it's weird how things work out. The next thing I knew, a clawed hand had closed around my wrist and pulled me roughly back down onto my seat. I turned to look at the demon next to me as he gave the same glare that he had given me to the ramen man.  
  
"She's with me. She stays."  
  
The Jiji shook his head and shook his finger. "No. No, girl is bad for business! She go out!" He said, in his broken Japanese. I hadn't noticed before. He was obviously Chinese. "She can no pay for ramen!"  
  
"I'll be paying for her ramen." The demon said roughly. "And besides, it's four in the morning. What other business are you going to get?"  
  
That shut the ramen man up. He placed two steaming bowls of beef ramen in front of us, and for a moment, I could only stare at the food. How long had it been since I had eaten a nice, warm meal?  
  
Too long.  
  
I grabbed the chopsticks that had been set down next to the bowl, and scarfed down the contents as fast as I could. I could feel the demon's eyes on me, and as I slurped up the last of the broth and set the bowl down, I looked over at him, noticing that he was surprised. He blinked at me a few times, and I blushed. Maybe I had eaten too fast? No sooner than I had though it, a large belch came from my stomach.  
  
I paused, embarrassed as what I had just done. Now what?  
  
And then the strangest thing happened.  
  
He laughed.  
  
The demon threw back his head and let out a laugh that was free of all harshness and roughness. H laughed so hard that I thought he'd start crying.  
  
He didn't. Instead, he settled down and turned to me. "Well, wasn't that feminine."  
  
What was he doing? Joking around with me? Teasing me? He didn't seem to be wanting to kill me and eat me up. Which was good. I still didn't respond to him. I was too confused. Did he want to hurt me or protect me? Laugh with me or be mean to me? I didn't get it. Did he want sex with me after all?  
  
I was still imbedded in my thoughts when he stood and placed money on the counter. What surprised me was that he held out his hand, just like he did right after he had saved me. "Come on." He said, the roughness back in his voice. "Let's get you out of here."  
  
And, not fully trusting him, I took his hand in mine, and let him lead me away from the Ramen stand.  
  
~*~  
  
I was intrigued.  
  
She had followed me after being scared to death of me. She had sat next to me in the ramen stand and, although she was frightened, she ate with me. She wasn't much for conversation of course, being that she almost said nothing.  
  
But you know, it was an interesting change from all the air-heads that I had eaten with in the past. And as strange and dumb as it may sound, I absolutely loved it when she burped. I had never heard a girl burp before. It was a nice change of pace.  
  
As I walked her back to my car, I noticed what she was wearing. A sports-bra-looking thing and a black leather skirt stopping right below her ass. She had fishnets on and these extremely high heeled shoe-things on. She wore bright red lipstick that didn't go with her skin tone and bright blue eyeshadow.  
  
Even though it was a warm night out, she was shivering. I slipped of my jacket and placed it around her shoulders. She greedily accepted it, like she had done with the ramen and wrapped herself tightly into the clothing.  
  
We finally reached my car and I walked around to the drivers seat, unlocking the car. The girl stood next to the car for a second, hesitating. I raised my eyebrow. "What are you waiting for?" I asked, a little more harshly than I expected. "Get in."  
  
She immediately did as I told her, hastily slipping into the passengers side. With a sigh, I opened the car door and sat down.  
  
No sooner had I closed the door when the girl was upon me, kissing my shoulder and moving her way up to my neck. I was shocked. What was she doing. "What the hell are you doing, wench?" I asked, gruffly, grabbing onto her shoulders.  
  
"This is what you want, ne?" She asked, still going at my neck and moving her arms to unbutton my shirt.  
  
I pushed her back. "Stop." I commanded her. She thought I had brought her here for sex!  
  
She didn't seem to be upset about my rejection. Instead, she pulled off her top, letting her breasts fall from the binding.  
  
I immediately blushed. "Wha- !!" I blurted out.  
  
She leaned in to kiss my neck again, but I was too fast for her. I grabbed my jacket, which she had discarded behind her, and threw it at her. "Put your fucking top back on!" I almost shouted at her. "I fucking don't want to mate with you!"  
  
She blinked, a little taken back. "What? What do you want then?" Her voice became shaky, scared. "Are you going to eat me?"  
  
I paused, then laughed again. "No. Whores don't taste good."  
  
She winced at the word 'whore' and then seemed to be angry. "Well, then what do you want?"  
  
I shrugged. Why was I bringing her home with me? Maybe because, even though she was a prostitute, she still was the most interesting person that I had ever met. Of course, I had already seen more of her than I wanted to, but I had a strange feeling that I wanted to protect her. Like she was my little sister. And it horrified me that someone as young and pretty as she was, was doing what she was doing.  
  
How old was she, anyway? She didn't look any older than 20, or any younger than 16. I sighed. "How old are you?"  
  
"Why?" She asked suspiciously.  
  
"Because I want to know. Is that a problem?"  
  
She paused. "Seventeen."  
  
Anger coursed throughout my entire body. "What the fuck are you doing selling yourself?"  
  
She winced. "Wha... What's it to you?" She asked, her body shaking.  
  
I was so angry I couldn't even answer her. Instead, I jammed the key into the car ignition and slammed on the gas peddle, tearing out of the slums as fast as I could.  
  
The girl gasped. "What are you doing? Where are you taking me?"  
  
I calmed a bit and paused before answering her.  
  
"Listen." I said. "I need you to do me a favor...."  
  
Well, that's my first chapter! I hope you guys liked it! Please review! I'm going for at least 20 before I post the next chapter!  
  
Oh! And I'm also going to try and finish each fic before I start a new one! Rosefire, you're my idol! XD  
  
*Goddess InuYasha* 


	2. The Devil Woman

Yay! I'm back!  
  
Amber and Melody: Hee hee. Thought 20 was too much, ne? I guess others didn't seem to think so, since I'm at review # 50! XD Lol, but thanks for your input, and I'm glad you guys liked my story. Thanks for reviewing! ^^  
  
Okay you guys, I didn't really warn anyone in the first chapter, but this fic IS rated R, and thus has some... sexual situations. Very angst-y ones at that. So please make sure that you can handle it before reading on, okay?  
  
Thank you.  
  
*Goddess InuYasha*  
  
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Chapter 02:  
  
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"Where is he?! Where's that little brat?"  
  
Souta shivered, curling himself into a small ball under his bed. She was coming for him again... And she would bring him into her office, and... and... He started to cry, the tears that he swore he'd never let lose slid down his reddened cheeks. "On and on and on and on..." He whispered to himself. "On and on and on..." He prayed that she wouldn't find him. That no one would rat him out. He could hear her angry foot steps stomping up the stairs. She was screaming, cursing, shoving random kids into the wall, as she made her way to the third flood, slamming open the door to the long bedroom where all the orphans slept.  
  
There were a few kids in the room other than Souta, and they all scampered to the side of their beds, standing at attention as the headmistress walked in, glaring at each child as she passed them, smacking a few across the face, and spitting on a boys' forehead.  
  
She stoped at last in front of the bed next to his and grabbed a young girl, no older than seven, by the front of her shirt. "Where. Is he." She spoke, her sentence choppy. Souta could smell the sake in her breath from where he lie under his bed.  
  
The young girl quivered and tried to shrink away from the evil woman's hands. "R- Rin doesn't-"  
  
The headmistress slapped her hard across the face, making the girl cry out in pain. "Little bitch!" She practically screamed. "Where is he?!!"  
  
The girl shook her head. "No, Rin doesn't know! Rin doesn't know!!" She cried louder, her tears flowing freely.  
  
Souta cursed under his breath. If the headmistress didn't find him soon, she'd probably settle for the young girl she was harassing at the moment. He bit his lip, and slowly inched his way out from under the bed. "I'm here, Headmistress." He said quietly, the last of his tears falling. He stared hard at the ground, not wanting to look at the woman who would soon make him wish he was dead.  
  
Again.  
  
The headmistress snapped her head to glare at him, her eyes flashing with anger. "You!!!!" She roared. "What do you think you're doing you little shit?!! Did you really think you could hide from me forever?!!!"  
  
He winced and kept his head down, saying nothing, as he was taught to do. She grinned. "That's right. Be an obedient little child. You'll make your dead parents proud, unlike that slut-of-a-sister you're related to!" With that, she grasped onto his wrist and yanked him out of the bedroom and down the stairs.  
  
This time, the kids wisely opened up a path for her, their eyes on the floor as Souta's were. She led him into her office, where an older man sat, slightly sweating, the perspiration dripping down his temples. Souta shuttered, involuntarily, as the headmistress shoved him into the front of her desk. Dazed, he slid down onto his knees so that his head would stop swimming. She looked at the older man, who was probably in his early forties, and held out her hand. "That will be one-hundred-fifty." She said. "You get one hour in this office, and I get video footage."  
  
The man nodded and handed over the cash without saying a word.  
  
Oh God. Not again.  
  
Souta would have done anything to be out of that office at the moment. He would have done anything for a sharp object to stab himself with.  
  
He knew what was coming.  
  
Fucking bitch of a headmistress. How was she able to get a job like running an orphanage anyhow? Souta couldn't believe how anyone would want to hire someone who could harm kids the way she did.  
  
As the headmistress left, shutting the door behind her, the man turned and rubbed his hands nervously together, looking at Souta up and down, undressing him with his eyes.  
  
It wasn't like Souta was six, when this first started happening to him. He was eleven years old now.  
  
He knew what was going to happen.  
  
The man closed in on him, and Souta let out one, last, anguished cry, before he was hurt the way no child should ever be hurt.  
  
Again.  
  
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~*~  
  
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I gapped.  
  
This was all really weird for me.  
  
First of all, this was a demon that I was sitting next to. A demon.  
  
Not to mention one who was stunningly gorgeous. He intrigued me. "A favor?" I asked, confused. Well, if he didn't want what I had thought he had wanted earlier, then what could it possibly be?  
  
"Yeah. A thought just struck me a moment ago." He paused, glancing at me before he turned his attention back to the road. "It's not right for a girl your age to be doing what you're doing. It's dirty."  
  
That hurt. More than I thought it would have. I felt like crying. "I... You don't think I know that?" I said, a bit sharper than intended. "You don't think that I don't know what I'm doing? You don't think I know that I'm dirty?! I know all these things already!"  
  
He snorted at me. "That's the most you've said to me so far."  
  
I blushed, surprised and embarrassed at the remark.  
  
"Anyway, I was thinking. Since you'll probably be killed if you stay out on the streets like you are now, I have a proposal."  
  
I paused, slightly suspicious. "What is it?"  
  
"It seems that we both have a little problem. You're starving, selling yourself, and need a bath badly. I'm in desperate need of a way out of my father pressuring me to marry." He paused in a dramatic sort of way. "So what if I let you into my home, fed you, bathed you, and kept you off the streets? Would you be willing to act as... I don't know, my fiancé, maybe?"  
  
He wasn't looking at me, his eyes glued to the road. It was probably a good thing, too, since my face was twisted in slight anger at telling me in a nonchalant way that I smelled bad. What did he expect? I couldn't afford to buy deodorant, much less perfume or body spray.  
  
But then, I paused in my thinking and wondered what it would be like. He wanted me to pretend to be his fiancé? But that would mean... "Let me get this straight." I said, my voice quieter than earlier. "You'll let me stay at your house, for free, and all I have to do is wear nice clothes and a ring and pretend to be attracted to you?"  
  
He shrugged. "That's about it."  
  
I could only stare.  
  
He mistook my look. "Oh, and I'll pay you, of course." He added in. "Let's say... Six thousand a week?"  
  
I gapped at him even more. "S...Six thousand?!!"  
  
He nodded. "Yeah. For three months. What do you say? Will you be my pretend fiancé?"  
  
I paused, everything he just told me running through my head.  
  
Then I remembered.  
  
"Only on one condition." I told him.  
  
He glanced over at me. "What's that?"  
  
"You have to get my brother out of the orphanage."  
  
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~*~  
  
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Souta lay on his bed, the tears flowing freely down his face. It was useless to hold them back anymore. What was the point? What was the point in being strong? In being brave? What was the point in keeping up his spirits if they could crumble so easily?  
  
Ever since he was six, he had held his sister's last words at heart. He had believed since he had been placed in this hell hole that she would be back for him soon. That she would save him.  
  
Bull shit.  
  
His sister was the biggest liar in the world.  
  
Souta now lay in his room, imagining what she was doing now. He knew that she spent most of her time selling her body to strangers. He was old enough to understand all that now. Plus, the headmistress pounded it into his head every time she had the chance that his sister was a whore who could care less for him.  
  
He was starting to believe her.  
  
His sister was a whore. A slut who enjoyed the disgusting act of sex with anyone as long as they payed. A bitch who abandoned her brother in a place that would eventually kill him from the inside out.  
  
"Kagome...." He whispered, another warm tear sliding down his cheek. "I hate you." Another tear. "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you."  
  
"Who does Souta hate?" A voice said, tearing Souta from his thoughts.  
  
He snapped his head to the side to come back with a rude comment, but stopped when he saw who it was. He frowned. "What are you doing up, Rin?" He asked, embarrassed that she had caught him in a weak moment.  
  
"Rin couldn't sleep. Rin heard Souta crying. Is Souta okay? Is Souta hurt?" Her eyes were as large as they could possibly be. She was honestly worried, Souta could tell.  
  
He smiled. "No, I'm okay, Rin. Just a bad day. Go to sleep."  
  
"Can Rin sleep with Souta?" The small girl asked innocently."  
  
"Why?"  
  
She shuddered. "Rin is scarred. Evil lady will hurt Rin and Souta a lot. Rin doesn't want to be alone."  
  
Souta frowned. Then sighed. "Sure Rin. Come on in." He lifted up the blankets and let her crawl next to him. She smiled and snuggled into him, falling asleep almost instantly. Souta could only lay awake and wonder.  
  
Wonder if he and Rin would have to spend the rest of their lives in the orphanage of someone who had such control over the both of them.  
  
"No...." He whispered to himself. No, he refused to spend the rest of his nights and days doing dirty favors so the headmistress could earn some extra pocket money.  
  
No, before she could make him suffer again, he'd kill himself.  
  
He'd rather be dead than go through what he had been through so many times before.  
  
Again, Souta got no sleep that night.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
~*~  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
The idea had pretty much just popped into my head.  
  
It was perfect.  
  
Take the poor little girl home, dress her up, make her smell good, give her a ring, prance around like we were in love.... And then I'd put her back out on the streets.  
  
Okay, I probably wouldn't do that. That would be cruel. And it really did piss me off that someone at her age would do such a disgusting thing like sell herself for sex. Did she really enjoy it so much that she did something drastic like run away from home to do so?  
  
I thought about that for a few seconds.  
  
That couldn't be right because she had just told me that her brother was in the orphanage. Were her parents dead? Did they just not was their kids anymore? But if that was true, than why was only the girl's brother in the orphanage? Why wasn't she there, too? At least if she was there, they'd make sure she didn't sell herself.  
  
Argh. All of this was just making my head hurt. Who cared what had happened. I honestly didn't want to know. I just wanted my father to believe I was taken so he'd stop pressuring me into marriage. And then I wanted to get the girl out of my life and not worry about her anymore. Of course, by her agreeing to help me, I'd make sure that after the three-or-so months we spent together, she had a nice place for her to live so she wouldn't be selling herself anymore.  
  
And if it was just what she liked doing for the hell of it, I'd put her in an insane asylum and just leave her there to rot.  
  
Better to rot in there than on the streets, I'd assume.  
  
Anyway, she just wanted me to get her brother out of the orphanage, right? That shouldn't be too hard. My father had a lot of influence on the city. He was a powerful demon, and most people, human and demon alike, did what he said.  
  
Or in this case, what his son said.  
  
Well, I pretty much had decided. "Okay." I agreed. "I'll get your brother out. But I need to talk to my father first. Afterwards, I'll be able to release him from the orphanage."  
  
The girl sighed, her shoulders sagging with relief. "Thank you." She said. "The sooner the better."  
  
I raised my eyebrow in question. "What's the big rush? I mean, besides the obvious fact that no kid should ever have to live in an orphanage.  
  
Her eyes immediately watered up with tears as her eyebrows knotted in anger. "I'm pretty sure that the headmistress beats him."  
  
"What?!" I asked, not sure if I had heard her correctly.  
  
"Yeah." She said, almost quietly. "I only saw him twice since I escaped , and both times he had bruises on his face and arms. He also refused to look into my eyes or let me touch him at all." She paused, holding back a sob. "At first, I thought he hated me for making him stay there just because he didn't like the other kids or something. But by the second time I went to visit him, I understood. She beats him. Physically abuses him. He would literally shake with fear every time she entered the room and-" She cut herself off with an anguished cry before she was able to continue. "Anyway, I couldn't do anything about it at the time. I couldn't get him out, I didn't have the money."  
  
We both sat in silence for a few moments, as I let all the information sink in. "How long has all of this been going on? How long have you been selling yourself for?"  
  
She blinked a few times. "Well, Souta and I were put in the orphanage when he was.... six, and I was twelve. A different headmistress ran the place then." Another tear fell from her eye, but she hastily wiped it away. "I ran away just before my thirteenth birthday. I was going to make enough money to get Souta out and afford a decent place to live." She let out a bitter laugh. "I thought it would be so easy to do just that back then. But no one was going to hire a thirteen-year-old. Especially one with no parents to give consent. I tried so hard to get a job. A decent one. But a few years later, when I was fifteen, I decided that the quickest way to make as much money as possible was to get into prostitution. I've been in the business ever since."  
  
I was slightly shocked. I mean, to go though all that... And at her age... "What the hell made you think you could get a job at that age?"  
  
"I was twelve!!!" She almost yelled out. "I didn't know any better! I thought I was being brave and adult-like!"  
  
I snorted. "More like stupid and child-like." It's unbelievable how I never really thought before I spoke.  
  
She opened her mouth to tell me off, closed it, then spoke. "You wouldn't understand."  
  
It was a statement.  
  
She was completely right, of course. There was no way in hell I could possibly begin to imagine what it was like. To understand what she had been though.  
  
"Do you think that it was easy? Some sort of make-believe game? Souta and I have no parents, demon. It wasn't a walk in the park for us." She snorted, in a rather Yokai manor. "It's easy for you to make such assumptions. To not understand. You have parents, you have money, obviously, and, being a demon and all, you must have power. You have no idea what it's like to struggle for anything."  
  
I didn't say a word as I pulled into my driveway and parked in front of my house. Instead, I tore off my seatbelt, stepped out of the car, and slammed the door behind me. In anger, I stomped off in the direction of my house. No idea, did I? Not understand, could I? Well.... Well....!!  
  
I turned on my heel and marched back to the car. The girl was still sitting in the seat, crying. My anger overtook my being, and I yanked the passenger door off it's hinges. The girl suppressed a gasp, her eyes wide as I leaned in close to her face, out noses millimetres from touching. "You little hypocrite." I growled out. "You're the one who understands nothing. After all, you fucking can't think of any other way to make money than by selling yourself!" I let out another growl. "Or maybe.... You just really enjoy it."  
  
Her hand flew back and slapped me clean across the face.  
  
Hard.  
  
My head was jerked to one side, my cheek stinging from the sharp impact.  
  
The girl had her hand placed over her mouth, her eyes wide, frightened.  
  
She thought I was going to kill her for her out-lash.  
  
I just shook my head. You know what, girl?" I asked her, glaring. "You really are a hypocrite." And with that, forced the car door back into it's place and turned, stomping away.  
  
She'd stay in the car for a few hours, probably afraid to come into the house, less I killed her.  
  
But she'd come in, sooner or later.  
  
She had to.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
~*~  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
Holy shit.  
  
I had slapped him.  
  
And I thought he'd have my head for it for sure.  
  
But he hadn't killed me.  
  
Sure, he had scared me so bad I thought I might have pissed myself, but he didn't swipe his claws at me or break me in half.  
  
He hadn't eaten me either, which was a good thing.  
  
I pretty much knew right then and there that he just simply wasn't interested in seeing me dead.  
  
So what was I supposed to do? Leave? He hadn't, in all his mighty rage and fury, told me to leave, really. Just seethed at me a lot and stomped off.  
  
His eyes had flashed so dangerously at me. It was weird, because I had usually only spent a few hours in the back of a car with a guy, and that was all just work. But with this man...  
  
This.... Demon....  
  
It was completely different with him.  
  
I had actually thrown myself onto him, topless, no less, and he had pushed me off. Rejected me.  
  
And where any other girl, and 'normal' girl, would have been hurt, It had filled me up with warmth and butterflies.  
  
Not to mention confusion.  
  
I had never been respected like that before.  
  
Not by anyone.  
  
Ever.  
  
Until now.  
  
I sighed. 'Anyway, Kagome.' I thought to myself. 'Back to the point. What the heck should I do?' The answer came to me after only a few minuets of contemplating about what had gone on in the past two hours.  
  
I would sleep in the car.  
  
He hadn't officially kicked me off of his property, which was good. But he hadn't really invited me into his house, if you could call it that, either.  
  
I crawled into the back seat, the demon's coat still wrapped tightly around me. I would just sleep in here. It would be the safest. I didn't want to anger him in any way again. And I really didn't want to sleep outside.  
  
I tried to stay awake for a little bit to organize my thoughts about what had happened, but it was the first time in a long time that I had slept on soft seats and not cold cement.  
  
Before I knew it, I was dozing off.  
  
The last thing I remembered was the musky, earth, masculine smell of the demon's coat wrapped around my body.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
~*~  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
I paced back and fourth in my bedroom. What was taking that girl so damn long? Why hadn't she come into the house yet? I had the futon all layed out for her, and some war tea to make her fiancé relaxed and tired. I even layed out some of my late mother's bedclothes for her to sleep in.  
  
I scratched at my flannel pyjama top in irritation. "Girl, what the hell are you doing?" I glanced out of my bedroom window, which faced the driveway, and noticed a figure curled up in my car.  
  
She wasn't planing on staying in there all night, was she? Why would she want to sleep out there, in the car, when she could easily come in and have a bed. A nice, warm comfy bed in a warm house?  
  
I growled out loud to myself.  
  
This just wasn't going to do at all. Not only was I feeling slightly guilty that I had scared her to the point where she thought I'd kill her if she set foot into this house, but if someone found her out in my car, how would we be able to convince anyone that she was my fiancé?   
  
With an agitated growl, I tore out of my bedroom, quietly, of course, so no one would wake up, and tip-toed downstairs. While I was sneaking over to the door, I bumped my elbow into a glass vase, one that my father cherished very, very much. It, of course, fell and broke into millions of glittery shards. I cringed as the shattering sound echoed throughout the house, then froze, listening closely to hear if anyone had been awakened. I did not want to explain to anyone why I was bringing in a half-naked girl from my car at four in the morning.  
  
When I decided that I was safe and clear, I quietly slipped out the door and rushed over to my car, wincing when I noticed the earlier damage I had done on the passenger door in anger. I sighed and popped it back off of it's frame, sliding into the front seat and looking back to see the girl huddled into the seat, my coat still wrapped tightly around her thin body.  
  
It was really strange, because I'm not really the type of person, or yokai, who will sit and notice all the pretty, peaceful things around me. If I'm walking in the park, I won't notice the birds singing, or the children playing, or the couples snuggling. Instead, I tend to focus on stuff like the dead squirl by the tree, being torn apart by insects, and the parents yelling at the kids for getting dirty and the couples looking longingly at other people walking past.  
  
And seriously, I think this was the first time that I had really noticed anything pretty.  
  
It made me stop and hold my breath as my eyes moved across her face. She actually was very good looking. I had lucked out. No one would believe our lie if she was unattractive. Her hair, although matted, was the darkest shade of raven black, and her skin, although tan, seemed almost... creamy and delicate.  
  
Almost like her....  
  
I realized how stupid and overly-emotional I was being when my hand moved unconsciously to brush her cheek, which by the way, was freezing.  
  
I was mad at myself.  
  
Not only because I had lost control of my mind and almost made a fool of myself, but because I had scared the poor girl so badly she had thought she was forced to sleep in my car.  
  
I was such a jerk.  
  
Sure, I had been called that plenty of times before by many, many different women, but I had always blown it off, never given it any thought.  
  
But now, for the first time, I really, really, really felt like a jerk.  
  
I sighed, scooping the girl up as gently as I could in my arms and walking slowly back into the house. I walked back up the stairs, ignoring the broken vase on the floor, and placed her on the futon on the floor.  
  
I felt bad, but not bad enough for her to have my bed.  
  
No way in hell was I seeping on a mattress on the floor.  
  
I sat next to the girl until I was sure she stopped shivering and her cheeks were red with warmth. Then I crawled into my bed and drifted off to sleep listening to her quiet, steady breathing.  
  
And for once in a long, long time.....  
  
I had not one nightmare.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
Wow! It's finally done! I've finally finished it! Sorry it took so long, and it really wouldn't have, but I just had break from college for a few weeks and didn't take this with me! Oops! ^^; So, I just had to finish when I got back. And now, I have to wait to go and upload it on to the site at school tomorrow! Whew! XD  
  
Thanks guys! Since I got fifty this time, I'm looking for 100! XD  
  
I love you all!  
  
*Goddess InuYasha* 


	3. Burn Marks

Sorry this took so damn long.  Honestly, I really didn't mean for it too. ^^; I had finals, so I had to study like hell.  Whoever says art colleges are less hard than regular colleges has never taken an art final. ^^;

Anyway, now I have three whole weeks off!  Yay!  I love Christmas!! ^^ As I type this, I'm listening to Mars Volta, whereas I should be packing to go home.  Anyway, tomorrow I leave for home in good old NJ. ^^ The plane ride will take six hours.  It sucks.  But yay!  I haven't been home in six months!  That's such a long time!  I miss my dogs!  *cries*

Okay, I'll finish writing this now.  Since I just moved to a new place, I don't have internet.  So... I'll post this when I get home.

I've babbled long enough now.  Enjoy.

*Goddess InuYasha*

Pretty Kagome.

Chapter 3: Burn Marks

"Wake up, little toy."

Souta's eyes snapped open wide, as his body went rigid.  Immediately, hid arms tightened around Rin's small body, which was still asleep and cuddled next to him.  He could feel her pressed next to him, warm, alive, small.  Oh how he'd give anything to stay asleep forever next to Rin.  She had given him a strange sense of comfort.

"Wake u~up."  The headmistress sang her words, making Souta shiver in disgust.  Was there ever a time when the woman wasn't drunk?

Souta decided to pretend to be asleep.  Maybe she'd leave him alone this time. Maybe she'd grow tired of trying to rise him and she'd play with someone else.

No such luck.

"I know you're awake, you little fuck."  She whispered harshly into his ear.  "And if you don't get up, I'll make things so much worse.  You think you can escape me?  Get dressed, I have a customer waiting."

'Go away, go away, go away, go away!'  Souta screamed in his head.  Maybe if he stopped breathing and died.....

The headmistress stayed for a few more moments as Souta tried to drag out his time.  When he didn't move, she huffed in annoyance.  "Fine."  She said, and before Souta knew what was going on, she had scooped little Rin up into her arms, who immediately woke up and started crying due to loss of warmth, and stomped towards the door.

"No!"  Souta shouted, realization hitting him smack in the face.  He sat up and threw back his covers, as he jumped out of bed.  "No, wait!  I'm going!  I'm going!"  He ran after the headmistress, desperate to get Rin away from her.  He latched onto her ankles as if he was throwing a tantrum.  "Please!  NO!"  Rin didn't deserve what would happen to her.  Rin didn't deserve it.

"Too late."  The headmistress seethed.  "She's old enough now to take on business like you do."  She bent her head low to the ground, her nose inches away from Souta and grinned.  "Besides, you shouldn't attach yourself to her.  If a customer likes her, she'll probably be adopted." She sniggered.  "If you know what I mean."  She then detached herself from Souta with a swift kick to his chest, making him cry out and curl into a ball on the floor.  "She's not like you.  I don't need her for business like I need you."

And with that, she slammed the bedroom door in his face, waking up all the other kids in the room who weren't already awake by Rins' crying.  Souta stood, shocked at what had just happened.  He could hear Rins' high-pitched screams echoing down the hall.

Souta shook his head, horror-struck.  "N-no...."  He whispered to himself, as Rins' cries faded further and further away.  "Oh God...."  He choked out in sobs.  "Rin...  Nooo....."  This was enough.  He couldn't stand it anymore.  No more.

No more.

"FUCK YOU!!"  He shouted out, as the other kids backed away.  He wasn't going to be pushed around.

Souta knew what he had to do.

* * *

  


_"Mama?"___

_"Yes dear?"_

_"He's so tiny."_

_"I know, dear."_

_"Why's he so small?"_

_"When you were born, you were this tiny, too."_

_"Really?"___

_"Yes."_

_"..........Mama?"_

_"Yes, dear?"___

_"What's his name?"_

_"Well, dear...  I think I'll name him...  Souta."_

_"Souta?"___

_"Yes.  Souta."_

_"Souta....  I like that...  You hear that, Souta?  I'm your new sister.  I'm Kagome. .....Mama?"_

_"Yes, dear?"___

_"You think he'll like me?"_

_"Kagome, you'll be the best big sister in the entire world.  I know he'll love you.  You'll take good care of him."_

* * *

  


"Mama...."

"Get up!"

I woke with a start, my mind fuzzy.  My clothes were stuck to my body, the stench of sweat filling my nostrils, and for a moment, I couldn't remember where I was.  "Wha.."  I muttered, sleep still stuck to my eyes, blurring my vision.  What was going on?  Why was I warm?

I looked down and patted myself.  I still had all my clothes on, which was strange, since I usually woke in the morning with them all off.  I was surprised to realize I also had a jacket that was wrapped around me as if it was protecting my body.  The smell was slightly familiar, and it confused me.  I swallowed, trying to wet my dry mouth.  I had been crying in my sleep, and my throat was sore.  I looked around, trying to see what had woken me up, and my eyes landed on a maid, who's back was now turned to me and was busy making up a rumpled bed.

I was laying on the floor, a rather comfortable floor, one with shaggy carpet the color of pure white.  A few feet away from me lay the bed the maid was busy with, and there were curtains hanging from the ceiling that surrounded the bed, something I had seen in picture books about old castle times.  The room itself was huge, about five or six times the size of the room I had when my mother was still alive.  The walls matched the carpet, the pure white color that made my head ache, and there were strange surrealism paintings hung up in silver.  There was a door that led to a bathroom which I could see into.  I was trying to get a clear view, my mouth hanging open at the awe of it all, when the maid spoke to me.

"There you go."  She said in a slightly bored, but kind voice.  She was rather pretty with long black hair tied in a ponytail, and dark eyes that almost glittered.  "Get up.  Master InuYasha  told me to get you clean.  He says you smell."

I only stared at her.  "Master... InuYasha?"  I asked, still not knowing what was going on.

"Yes."  She said, holding her nose and leaning away from me slightly.  "I must bathe you now."

She ushered me up and I stood, shakily.  What had-

Oh yeah.

It all came flooding back to me.  I had been attacked, and a demon had saved me.  I blinked and looked around.  How had I gotten inside?  The last thing I remembered was the demon slamming the car door in my face.  I had been so scared that I had fallen asleep in the car.  But...

"My God."  Muttered the maid.  "I swear, kid, I don't know how you got yourself this dirty in the first place."  She shook her head and pinched the top of my shirt as she led me to the bathroom.

I looked around and suppressed a gasp of surprise.  The bathroom was about half the size of the bedroom, which was pretty damn big, and it was all a shade of light blue, almost white.  There was a bathtub on one side of the room, big enough for three overweight people to be comfortable in, and had jets all around in the very bottom.  I jumped as the maid turned on the faucet, and the tub filled up, the jets shooting out warm water.  I was like a Jacuzzi.

On the other side of the bathroom was a large walk-in shower, with glass doors separating it from the rest.  I poked my head inside and looked around.  There was no shower head, but many tiny holes in the ceiling, from which the water must come.  There were comfortable benches all around and soft padding on the floor.

"Come on, now.  Get undressed."  Snapped the maid, looking slightly agitated.

I winced at her voice and took off the jacked that smelled like the demon who rescued me.  I slipped off my stilettos and my fishnets.  Then I took off my short skirt and top, leaving me feeling naked, which I was.

As I stepped into the tub, the maid picked up my clothes one by one by her thumb and index finger and placed them into a trash bin.  "Hey!"  I said, slightly annoyed that she had so easily tossed away my outfit.  "I need those."

She raised her eyebrow at me and shook her head.  "Not anymore you don't."  She said, mater-of-factly.  "You're going shopping for new ones.  Master InuYasha's orders."

I blinked as I settled down into the warm water, my body relaxing slowly.  "Who is 'Master InuYasha'?"  I asked her, confused.  "Is he the demon who-"

"Don't ask such questions."  Said the maid, sitting down next to the tub and gesturing me over.  She picked up a bottle of shampoo and squirted a large amount of it into her hands.  "All you need to know is that Master InuYasha wants you washed, dressed, and ready for lunch this afternoon."  She started to slowly massage my head with her hands as the shampoo was worked into my matted hair.  "Honestly," She continued.  "I don't approve of this at all."

"Of what?"  I asked cautiously.

"Of Master InuYasha bringing in some girl from the streets to play fiancé.  If his father finds out who you really are..."  She shook her head, then smiled.  "Ah well."  She said, and she started to dunk my head under the water.  "It's his ass on the line, not mine.  As long as he doesn't let it slip that I knew anything about it."

I wiped the water from my eyes and looked up at her as she smiled down at me.

"Well, you can do the rest yourself, ne?"  She said as she stood and wiped her hands on her apron.  "Make sure you scrub clean.  Just press this when you're done," She pointed to a little red button on the wall next to the door.  "And I'll come up to brush your hair."

"Um... Okay..."  I said shyly.

The maid turned to leave.

"Wait!"

"Yes?"  She asked, as she turned around and raised her eyebrow.  I noticed she did that a lot.

"Um, what's your name?"

She laughed.  "Sango.  From now on, if you have any questions, just come and ask me, okay?"

I nodded, still slightly confused.  It was all happening so fast.  Whoever this InuYasha character was, he was filthy rich.  Could he really have been the same demon who saved her from the men on the street?

I sank back into the water and closed my eyes, thinking.  Thinking about all that had gone down last night.  Was it safe to assume that I'd be taken care of from now on?  That from this day forward, I'd have money, and a place to live, and my brother would be there with me, never having to be controlled by the orphanage ever again?

I halfway expected to wake up any moment on the cold, hard ground in some random ally way.  But the warm water I was in was all too real.  The smell of shampoo and the soap bubbles and the jets against my sore body was way to real.

It was real.

I looked down at my body at the water swirled around me, white foam from the jets sticking to my body and popping into thin air.

I frowned as every bruise and scar brought on a painful memory.

The first time I ever had sex, a man had given me a burn mark with his cigarette, and told me to like it.  On my wrist lays little marks in the form of a misshaped heart.  A tear slid down my cheek as what I had done over the past few years finally came crashing down onto me.

I was such a slut.

Such a whore.

A girl who was so desperate for cash, I'd do almost anything for it.

And I'd paid the price.

I'd never have my life back now.

Never.

I dunked my head back underwater to wash out the remaining conditioner before I stood and wrapped a towel around my body.

I pressed the red button next to the door and waited.

* * *

  


"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Move that hand one inch closer and I'll kill you."

Miroku frowned.  "You're so touchy today, Sango."

"I am not."

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not!"  Sango sighed, and took two steps to her left, distancing herself from the man who was sitting in a swivel chair in front of several tv screens next to her.  "I'm not in a great mood right now, Miroku.  Please don't piss me off."

"Whoa."  He waved his hands in front of his face, gesturing that he would back off.  "Sorry, Ice Queen.  What's got your panties in a bunch?"

She snorted.  "When did you start to sound like InuYasha?"

He snorted right back at her.  "What are you talking about?  Me and InuYasha have been together since we were kids.  When have we not sounded like each other?"

"Well, unlike InuYasha, you say what you want with your hands rather than with your mouth."  Sango rolled her eyes.  "Anyway, I'm not sure I like the idea of that girl being here.  I mean, she's a whore.  If people found out..."  She shook her head.

"Whoa, Sango."  Miroku pushed with his hands on the desk in front of him and turned to face her with a shocked look.  "A tad harsh isn't it?  We don't know what's happened to her in the past.  Anyway, what InuYasha likes in woman, whore or not, is none of our business.  In fact,"  He stated, as he reached for the power button on the screen that showed the hallway in front of InuYasha's door.  "We should not be watching what he brings in and out of his room anyway."

Sango slapped his hand away from the button and glared at him.  "That is such bull coming from you."  She said, as Miroku held his stinging hand.  "Don't think I don't know about your little secret stash of videos you've recorded in the female guest changing room!"

"What?  When-"

"This would be the perfect time for you to shut up."

"But-"

Just then, the buzzer sounded, signaling Sango that the girl named Kagome was calling for her.  She grumbled and turned to stomp out of the room.  "Oh, by the way."  She added, turning and smiling at Miroku, who had been pale since learning of Sango's knowledge of his stash.  "Have fun trying to get new videos."

With that, she slammed the door, leaving Miroku to dash to his hiding place only to find it empty.

"Nooooo!!!"

* * *

  


"Ah, my son.  Sit, sit."

"What's this all about?  I'm kinda... busy.."

"I'm sure you are, InuYasha, but this is important."

I sighed and sank into the chair in front of my father's large desk.  I watched as he rubbed his chin slowly, thinking, and stood, turning his back to me and gazing out the large wall-sized window that sat behind him, a beautiful view of Tokyo's rising sun stretching out before us.  He looked magnificent.  Tall.  Strong.  Powerful.  It was hard for me to believe that the man was my father.  I felt so small and insignificant next to him, like an ant that he could squash at any time with the heel of his black polished shoe.

"What is it then?"

He paused before he answered, his back still facing me, but I could tell that he had sighed, as his shoulders dropped slightly in an almost defeated sort of way.  "I know I've given you this speech before..."  He started.

It was my turn to sigh, and I rolled my eyes for good measure.

"Let me finish."  He went on, before I could get a word in edgewise.  "You need to take over the business, but in order to do that, you need a mate."  He chanced a look at me, but I was more interested in the opposite wall.  "You're twenty-two years old, InuYasha!  For Devil's sake, why don't you find someone already?  By the time I was twenty, I had two kids and-"

Yadda, yadda, yadda.  I sighed again, knowing this speech by heart.  "Dad."  I interrupted him.

"What?"  He frowned.

"Don't worry."  I said, finally looking into his eyes.  "I have it under control."

His eyebrow raised in question.  "Under control."  He said, more of a statement than a question.  "You have it under control?"

"Yes."  I said, not blinking.

He turned back to me and slowly sat down into his oversized leather chair.  "What exactly does that mean?  You've found a mate?"

"Possibly."

"Possibly?"  His body tensed up.  "Have you or haven't you?"  He gritted out, starting to get annoyed.  That wasn't good. My father tended to be violent when he got pissed off.

"Well, I met someone... last night."

"At the party?"

"Not exaclty."

"Where then?  Rent-a-girl.com?"  Great, he was getting sarcastic.  And it was kinda scary how close to the truth that really was.

I slumped back into my chair.  "I ran into her after the party.  She was in a bit of trouble and I helped her out."  I shrugged.  "That's about it."

"That's it?  What's her name?  Where is she from?  Is she Youkai?  Hanyou?  Human?"

"She's human, dad."

He snorted.  "I don't know if I like that..."

"Like what, dear?  You have something against humans?"

I spun around to see my mother in the doorway.  I grinned.  "Mom!"

My father's annoyance turned into nervousness.  "Of course not, dear.  Human woman are the best kind to have."  He turned his glare back onto me.  "I'm just not sure if a human would be safe in the hands of our son."

She walked to my father, pausing by me and ruffling up my hair on the way.  I loved my mom.  More than anyone in the world.  She was the only person alive that I'd let touch my hair.

"Oh dear, you worry too much."  She said, sitting on the arm of his leather chair.  "Our son takes after you.  I'd love to see him marry a human.  Demon woman are so.... demanding."

My father smiled.  "Of course, dear."  Then he turned back to me.  "So when do we meet this mystery woman?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but my mom beat me to it.  "Why tonight at dinner, of course."  She smiled.  "After all, if this is the woman that InuYasha has chosen, we have to know everything about her right away."

I smiled back at my mom, dreading it all on the inside.  "Of course, mother."  I said.  "Now if you'll excuse me."  I bowed respectfully to my father and turned, bolting out of the room as fast as possible while trying to maintain a dignified pace.

* * *

  


"Souta..."  A young boy with light brown hair whispered.  "Souta, what are you doing?  You're going to get into trouble again."

"Go away."  Souta knotted his eyebrows together, seething as he packed the few clothes that he had into a brown knapsack.  He was getting out.  Away from it all.  Away from that.... that bitch.

"But-"

"Leave me alone!"  He placed in one shirt, one pair of pants, one pair of shoes, and one pair of socks along with a picture of his sister, a black-and-white photo that was so worn out he could barely make out her smiling face.  For some reason he just couldn't get rid of the picture, no matter how pissed off at her he was.

He turned to the other boy, who was slightly younger than he was, and gave him a last, sad smile.  "I know you're only looking out for me, but I have to leave.  I can't stay here anymore."

"Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know.  But if my sister could do it than so can I."

"But your sister is a sl-"

"Shut up, I know."  And with that, he turned and shoved past the other boy, making his way towards the window.  He lifted the pane, wincing as it made a screeching noise on the way up, and turned to look at the closed door.  He sighed.  "I'm sorry, Rin."  He looked down at the muddy grass below, the two stories he was about to fall seeming like ten or twenty instead.  "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."  And with that, he lifted his leg up and over the sill, bending his back to slip through the small opening.

BANG.

"YOU LITTLE FUCK!!"

And he had almost made it, too.

His head spun around and his eyes winded to stare in shock at the headmistress, who was now stomping towards him at an incredible speed.  He sat, frozen, half his body out of the window, before realization dawned in on him, and he struggled to get his entire body out.

She grabbed onto his arm before he could make his escape, her brightly painted nails cutting into his skin, squeezing the blood out of him.  He screamed, as he dangled, struggling, beating at her fingers, not caring that they were the only thing keeping him from falling.

"Let me GO!!"  He screamed, yanking his body weight down.

Gravity did the rest.

He fell.

The headmistress's scream was the last thing he heard before he blacked out.

Dun-dun-DUN!  Okay, this chapter is FINALLY done!!!  FINALLY!  My GAWD that took forever! ^^;

Okay, so I know that it's WAY after Christmas break and I'm just getting this all up now.  But just let me tell you that it's been so stressful lately!  First of all, my computer at home decided to SUCK.  So I couldn't type anything there.  Then, when I got back over to California, I was surprised to find out that I'm hundreds of dollars in debt with comcast, so I can't get internet connection here. PLUS I've had a SHITLOAD of homework lately.  For every class that I take, I have to do FOUR HOURS of homework each week just to get a C!!  So if I want an A, I have to double that time.  Plus, I finally got a job, and since I'm not getting paid to write this fanfiction stuff, *Disclaimer* I need the cash, bad.  I get about 8.50 an hour, which is pretty good. ^^; And goodness, the drama that's been going on!  My room mate was in the middle of a gang shooting!  She was sitting at the bus stop, and a car pulled up and started shooting at some kinds across the street, and the kids pulled out some guns and started shooting back!  Right in front of her!  So then, being from Main and all, my room mate freaks out and wants to go home!  She wanted to quit right in the middle of her second quarter!  So we got in a fight about it, and she told me that she would go to school in Phili!  I was all: "Bitch, you think it's scary here?!  You won't be able to walk outside in Phili, let alone go to school there!  It's ten times worse than San Francisco!"  She got all mad and much drama followed.  We're okay now, but again, GAWD!!!

Anyway, sorry I've talked your ears off about this, but maybe now you can understand why it took me a while to get this up.  Please don't hate me!  I love you all!

And hey, at least I ALMOST reached 100, ne? ^~

*Goddess InuYasha*


	4. Anything Sexual?

Well, it took a while, but it's up. I was having writers' block, then I decided to do a story with Isle of Solitude, (You can see our combined stuff under 'Goddess of Solitude'. We've got two up so far.) And then I had finals.... But I won't even go into that.  
  
Let me just warn all you soon-to-be-college-art-students.  
  
RUN.  
  
I'm tired.  
  
I've slept five hours in the past week.  
  
I swear that whatever God is up there, he/she is determined that I fail every Goddamn final.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
Goddess InuYasha  
.

.

.  
Chapter 3: Anything Sexual?  
.

.

I struggled with the clasps on the back of the new top that I was squeezing myself into. Didn't this InuYasha guy's mother have anything larger than a size zero? How small was this woman? I knew that I wasn't the thinnest girl around. Not that I was fat, either. I was just kinda.... size six-ish.  
  
"Dammit..." I muttered under my breath as my hands slipped from the clasp.  
  
"Here." Sango stood from the floor where she was re-fitting the hem of the jeans I had squeezed into, and shooed my hands away. "Let me."  
  
I sucked in my breath as she clasped up the back in swift-yet-not-gentle movements. My eyes turned from my belly to the full-length mirror that was in front of me, which made me almost jump in surprise. "Wow..." I stated.  
  
Sango chuckled from behind me. "Yes, it's a wonder what a bath and new clothes can do to a girl, eh?" She winked from over my shoulder. "Not too shabby, if I say so myself."  
  
"I don't..." I stuttered. "I don't know if I..."  
  
"Spit it out, hun."  
  
"I mean..." I gaped at my reflection. "What if I get these dirty?" My voice almost choked back into my throat. "They're so pretty..."  
  
"Yes they are."  
  
"I don't think I should wear these..." I couldn't gaze away from the image in front of me.  
  
Sango let out a sharp laugh. "Master InuYasha seemed to think otherwise. Had me go and dig these out of his mothers closet himself. Of course, Lady Sae approved."  
  
"Lady Sae?" I asked.  
  
"Master InuYasha's mother. Lovely woman. Small but powerful. Lord Kobun would be nothing without her."  
  
"I'm assuming he's InuYasha's father?" My eyebrow raised.  
  
"You'd assume right, hun." She smiled. "There. Perfect. Let's get a good look at you." She stood back to look me up and down. "Now you'd be what I call a Cinderella."  
  
"Huh?" I asked, scrunching up my nose.  
  
"Like the fairytale. Or maybe it's the Ugly Duckling." She shrugged. "Time for your lunch date with Lord InuYasha."  
  
And before I even had the time to be offended about the Ugly Duckling bit, she dragged me off the little stool and out the door.

.

.

"Uh hu." Pause. "Yeah, I got it." Another pause. "Well, I'm sure me and my fiancee have the time to fit you in." Yet another one. "Right."  
  
Click.  
  
"Jackass." I muttered to myself. What was it with rich people and digging their noses into each other's business? And how the fuck had the Reinaldo's learned about the engagement already?  
  
I knew the answer to that even before I asked it to myself.  
  
I sighed.  
  
Mother.  
  
I loved her to death, but Kami, she had a big mouth.  
  
"Do all demons hang up without saying goodbye, or is it just you?" Came a rather sharp voice to my right.  
  
I raised my gaze from the table top to see Sango giving me a you're-so-full-of-yourself- smile. But my eyes only passed over her for a second, and instead landed on the young girl who was standing next to her..  
  
The sky was blue, the sun was bright, the air was warm, and the breeze was cool. To sum it all up, it was a perfect day. The table where I sat was in the very center of the large garden that made up only about half of my 'back yard' if you could call endless amounts of land that. The hedges were high and built like a maze, and flowers and fountains were placed here and there, attracting birds and other assortments of animals.  
  
All in all, it was a beautiful place.  
  
But when my gaze met hers, my breath caught in my throat. Just a little bit.  
  
What happened...?  
  
My heart started to pound as I noticed she was blushing slightly from the way I was staring at her. I couldn't take my gaze away. I had definitely made the right choice in picking-  
  
"So, I guess I'd be just you then." Sango answered herself when I didn't give her one, and I almost jumped in surprise. She just smirked. "So, what do you think?" She asked. "Not to bad, eh?"  
  
I coughed and willed myself not to blush. It's not like I was having any feelings for this girl or anything. It just stunned me that she was so.... different.... after a bath and some new clothes.  
  
"It's fine Sango, thank you." I paused. "You may leave now."  
  
Sango bowed her head with a roll of her eyes.  
  
I'd let her slide on that one. But only because she kept Miroku from getting out of control.  
  
I stood and gestured for the girl to sit down next to me. I could tell that she had gotten more nervous when Sango left. She obviously wasn't used to me yet.  
  
....not that I could really blame her. I had been kind of a bastard the night before.  
  
"You gonna stand there all day, or sit and have lunch?" I asked, eyebrow raised.  
  
Hurriedly, she obeyed.  
  
I smirked. "Like I said last night, I'm not going to eat you."  
  
She only nodded.  
  
Ah.  
  
"Listen." I stated, taking off my sunglasses and brushing my bangs from my face. "I'm sorry that I verbally attacked you the way I did. I promise that it will not happen again." I paused. "Am I forgiven?"  
  
She bit her lower lip in hesitation. "We're... getting my brother out of the orphanage, right?"  
  
I smiled. "Of course. That's what we're having this lunch to discuss. Our deal was for you to stay and pretend to be my fiancee until my father gets off my back, right?  
  
She nodded again.  
  
"And in return, I will pay you 6,000 dollars a week.... Correct?"  
  
"And my brother." She added in.  
  
This time it was me who nodded. "And I'll get your brother out from the orphanage. So we're clear on this?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good." I smiled. "Now, eat up. After dinner, we'll pay a visit to my personal lawyer. The first agenda is to get your brother."  
  
The girl picked up her fork, and I noticed her hand was shaking. I raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Um..." She paused and looked up at me, a single tear falling from her cheek. "Thank you."  
  
Oh Kami. She was crying.  
  
I hated it when women cried.  
  
I forced my face to look as if I was concerned. "It's okay... What was your name again?"  
  
"Kagome, Mr...."  
  
I let out a sharp laugh. "InuYasha is fine."

.

.

"Well, out of ALL the women that you could have picked for this little game of yours, it had to be HER?"  
  
I shrugged. "What? It's not as if she's ugly or anything." I smirked. "Not really up to my standards in looks, but she's okay."  
  
Miroku raised his eyebrow. "You've got to be kidding." He stared stonily at me. "She's beautiful!"  
  
"I honestly don't see it." I turned my eyes to look at him as he glared at me. I was not looking forward to this conversation. Lunch had ended with Kagome blubbering all over herself and me trying hard to bite back my tongue from telling her to shut up. Now Miroku was on the other side of the oak desk in my office, spinning in the swirly chair he was sitting in.  
  
"InuYasha." He stopped the spinning chair by grabbing onto the desk and looking straight into my eyes. "This girl looks EXACTLY like you're ex girlfriend. You know, the one you almost married? The one you got pregnant? The one who was SO good looking you turned to slush every time you were near her."  
  
A growl escaped from my throat. "Don't even GO there, Miroku."  
  
"Admit it!" Miroku smirked just like I had done. "She's Kikyo's double!"  
  
"She's not."  
  
He grinned. "She is."  
  
I swiftly stood and looked out the window behind me, a habit I had learned from my father. Miroku must of hated it. I always did when my old man did it. "I admit that she has..." I paused. "A few features that are similar."  
  
Miroku snorted.  
  
"But," I said, spinning on my heel to look at him. "It has nothing to do with why I chose her."  
  
"You're really going to marry this girl?" He asked. "You just met her. You don't have a complex or anything, do you?"  
  
I growled. "Do you WANT me to fire you?"  
  
He grinned slyly. "You do, don't you?"  
  
"I don't. And I have no intentions of really marring her." I sat back down in my chair.  
  
There was a pause, and Miroku blinked, the new information sinking into his head. "What?"  
  
"I said, I'm not marring her."  
  
"But I thought-"  
  
"Well, you thought wrong." I snapped.  
  
Miroku paused, looking up at me with an expression that I couldn't read. "You didn't meet this girl at that party, did you?" He accused me, dragging the sentence out slowly. It was more of a statement than a question.  
  
"What makes you think that?" I asked.  
  
"Sango told me." He stated. "Duh."  
  
My blood boiled. "I'll kill her."  
  
"Why a prostitute? Couldn't you have picked someone else up who was a little more... classy?"  
  
I didn't answer.  
  
"What are you planning on doing with this girl, if not marry her for real?" He kept going, trying to get information from me.  
  
I sighed, and placed my elbow on the desk, looking off to the left. "I don't want to get married, Miroku." I told him. "Period."  
  
"So what's the point in all of this then?"  
  
"I'm getting there." I bit out. "Be patient." I leaned back in my chair and looked straight at him, placing the tips of my fingers together in thought. "Father's been on my back for a while about getting married, and... Well, after the whole Kikyo incident-"  
  
Miroku snorted at this.  
  
"-It's been worse then ever." I finished, glaring at him. "At the party, every girl that I met I couldn't stand. I left early and almost ran my car into a tree on purpose."  
  
Miroku's eyebrows shot up. "You what?"  
  
"Don't be stupid." I snapped at him. "I would never ruin my car like that."  
  
"Good to know."  
  
"Anyway," I continued. "I stopped off to get some ramen, and just happened to run into the girl getting attacked by these guys."  
  
"And you played hero to rescue her?" Miroku asked. "I'm surprised."  
  
"What was I supposed to so, let her get raped?"  
  
He rolled his eyes. "That's her job, InuYasha. It's what she does."  
  
I crossed my arms stubbornly. "She was crying and begging to be let go. They weren't letting her go. What would you have done?" I regretted asking as soon as the words came out of my mouth.  
  
Miroku grinned a sly grin and opened his moth to speak.  
  
I moaned. "Don't even answer that."  
  
He let out a laugh. "Fair enough. You know me too well." He leaned in a little closer to my desk. "But where does all this marriage stuff come in?"  
  
"I'll pretend like we're engaged. It'll be enough for father to get off my ass, and mom to be happy."  
  
"And what does she get exactly?" He asked, one eyebrow raised.  
  
"Money." I said simply. "And she has a brother in an orphanage. She wants him out. I figure I get the brat set free, pay her some good money for her services and send her on her way."  
  
Miroku grinned. "And what exactly do her..." He paused. "Services include? Anything sexual?"  
  
That was it. "Get the fuck out." I told him, angrily.  
  
He held up his hand in defense. "Hey man, just asking. I mean, you haven't had any for a while, you know? You need some action."  
  
I stood, practically glowing with rage. "I will not be treating her like a whore!" I growled. "She's only seventeen-Goddamn-years old!" I didn't know why I was so pissed off. "Get out." I paused as Miroku hastily made his way out the door. "And tell Sango to get my lawyer on the phone!" I shouted, as he slammed the door behind him.  
  
I sat back down in my chair and huffed. The sooner I could get rid of the girl, the better. She had only been here for a day, and she was already more trouble than she was worth.  
  
The phone rang, and I leaned over to pick it up. "Hello?"  
  
"InuYasha, it's Kouga. Sango called me. If it's about the rumors of your arrest, and Kikyo's pregnancy, I can tell you that it's all under con-"  
  
"It's nothing about that, Kouga." I huffed. Even though the guy was my lawyer, I never really liked him much. But he was good. The best. And most of the time, he was the one to call to clean up my messes.  
  
"Actually, there's an orphanage...." I leaned back in my chair. "I've been thinking of adoption."

.

.

Smack!  
  
"Wake up."  
  
Pause.  
  
Smack!  
  
"Wake up! Now!"  
  
Pause.  
  
Smack!  
  
"Wake up, you pathetic excuse for a human!"  
  
Souta let out a feeble moan and rolled over onto his side. A sharp pain flew up his entire right side, making him horribly nauseous. He felt the bile rise in his throat and struggled desperately not to choke as it came oozing from his lips.  
  
"Oh for fucks sake."  
  
He heard her voice, like a giant boom in his head.  
  
What had happened? The last thing he remembered was falling....  
  
He opened his eyes, his vision blurry to see his headmistress's rather unattractive face leaning over his body. The pain in his arm intensified, and he rolled over onto his back.  
  
"Well, what's wrong with him?" He heard her speak again.  
  
"Good news is, his arm's dislocated, not broken." Came a deeper voice. "You should get him to a hospital, though. Just in case something else is going on."  
  
"You know I can't do that." She whispered to the deep voice, still leaning over Souta's body. "You're one of my best costumers, Doctor. You know very well what they'll do if they notice anything."  
  
The doctor hesitated. "Well, I could pop it back into place, but he'll probably pass out again. It's a painful process."  
  
Souta's eyes were now clearing, and he could make out the doctor. Oh God. It was him. The man that the headmistress had first sold him to. Why the hell was he here?  
  
Souta started to struggle, panicking. It couldn't happen again. This is why he tried to run away. This is why he was going to leave Rin behind and run-  
  
Oh God. Where was Rin? What had happened to her?  
  
Souta tried to sit up, but let out a strangled cry as the same pain shot up his arm.  
  
The Doctor's hand was on his chest, trying to push him back down, and Souta had to hold back from vomiting again.  
  
"This is going to cost you." The Doctor said, ignoring the way Souta's body shuttered at his touch.  
  
The headmistress raised her eyebrow. "How much?" She asked, a cold tone in her voice.  
  
"Not money." He answered. "I want them both at the same time. This boy and the younger girl from earlier. What was her name?"  
  
"Rin."  
  
"Yes." He said. "I liked her a lot."  
  
The Headmistress didn't answer for a few seconds, contemplating. "Fine." She finally answered. "You can have them both at the same time. But I don't want you pulling any of your freaky masochistic shit on the girl. She's brand new, you were the first to play with her."  
  
Souta saw the Doctor grin at the memory and tears welled up in his eyes.  
  
"Yes, of course." The Doctor replied. "But I can with this one, yes?"  
  
The Headmistress snorted. "Do what you will with him. He needs to be taught a lesson anyway, trying to escape like that." She leaned in close to Souta's face. "Did you really think you were going to get away with it, you piece of shit?" She breathed on him. "I hope the good Doctor here punishes you well."  
  
Souta shook from head to toe, the tears spilling over his lashes.  
  
"Well, let's fix him up." The Doctor said, and he grabbed hold of Souta's shoulder, pushing with one hand and pulling with the other. There was a sound snap, and Souta's anguished scream could be heard through the entire building.

.

.

"Kagome?"  
  
I turned my head to look around. Sango was walking quickly up the stone path that led down to the little garden where InuYasha and I had lunch. "Hello, Sango." I called out to her and waved, feeling slightly better. The little meeting with my demon savior had been a tad overwhelming. I couldn't decide whether I was impressed by him or afraid of him.  
  
Sango was being followed by someone I hadn't seen before. He was slightly taller than she was, and dressed in a security guard outfit. His hair was black, and slicked back into a small ponytail, a few strands of bangs falling handsomely in his face.  
  
"Kagome." She said again, as we met each other halfway. "There you are. I was a little afraid you had gotten lost."  
  
I smiled a little bit. "I'm alright, thank you. I was just taking a walk through the gardens." I paused and bit my lip, unsure if I should share my thoughts with her. "It's really very beautiful."  
  
"Yes it is." She said in a slightly bored tone, as if she had heard it a million times before. "Kagome, this is Miroku. He's head of security here."  
  
I smiled. "Hello."  
  
The man named Miroku grinned and held out his hand. "Well, hello to you too." He said, in a sly voice.  
  
I took his hand, and instead of a shake, he bent low and placed a kiss on my hand.  
  
Sango rolled her eyes with a snort.  
  
"There have been rumors about your beauty through Lord InuYasha's domain." He continued. "And let me just say that they are true. You are as every bit beautiful as they said."  
  
"Miroku, knock of the poetic crap." Sango snipped. She then turned to look at me and smiled. "Forgive him, he thinks he's God's gift to woman."  
  
I couldn't help but smile.  
  
"Anyway." She said. "Miroku is going to show you around the place and tell you what areas are forbidden. Make sure you listen. InuYasha may seem like a decent guy to you, but he has a temper that no one but his father can beat."  
  
"I can believe it." I almost whispered. "He got a bit angry with me last night."  
  
Miroku raised his eyebrow. "What were you two doing last night?" He asked, trying to suppress a grin.  
  
I shrugged. "He yelled at me a lot. I got scared and fell asleep in the car. When I woke up, I was inside."  
  
"See?" Sango glared at him. "I told you to get your mind out of the gutter! Everything is about sex with you!"  
  
I coughed and blushed a little. It felt like I was in the middle of a lover's spat, something I was never too fond of.  
  
Sango seemed to come out of her argumentative state. "Oh, that's right." She said, more to herself than anyone else. "InuYasha sent us to come get you. Miroku will take you too him and explain on the way." She paused. "Something about news on your brother."  
  
"Souta..." My face saddened, then became slightly upbeat. "You mean he's found him?"  
  
Sango shrugged her shoulders. "Couldn't tell you. You'd better go see him now, though."  
  
I nodded and followed Miroku into the house. My brother was just in my reach... I could feel it.

.

.

Meanwhile, Souta was, yet again, being subjected to something no child should ever be subjected to. He lay there, not being able to do a thing but watch Rin be tormented as she sobbed.  
  
"I'm sorry, Rin......" He choked out, a tear sliding down his cheek. "I'm sorry."

.

.

.

.

Done! Sorry that took so long. Finals and such. Art school is SO ridiculous on the homework. Did you know, that I've been up ALL NIGHT getting filled up with red bulls and sculpting a guy out of clay? I hate sculpting people. It never turns out looking right. They always seem to have Down's syndrome.  
  
Red Bull makes me pee like a pregnant woman...  
  
I'm not pregnant.  
  
Goddess InuYasha 


	5. The Model Woman

Slowly overcoming writer's block here.....

Alright. Here's the next chapter. I'm sorry it's been like, three months. I promise not to take so long next time.

I'm going to take the time here to let you all know about the child abuse.

Did you know that most children who are neglected and/or abused never are brought to the attention of government authorities? Especially those who are sexually abused, because there are no signs on the outside of the body to let anyone know.

If you know ANY child who's being abused, please, PLEASE report it. There are many places you can contact to get help.

Now, I'm sorry to say that QuickEdit, because it's a fucked up program, is not letting me break the story where it needs to break. So between each POV, I'll have my initials so that it breaks. Hopefully, I'll be able to fix it, just please, bare with me for the time being.

Thank you.

On a brighter note, I wrote you guys a long chapter. Enjoy.

g.i.

Chapter 5: The Model Woman

g.i.

g.i

Souta leaned over the dirty sink next to the dirty toilet and the dirty tub in the dirty bathroom and puked.

Everything about him, just like the room he was standing in now, was dirty.

His skin, his face, his mouth, his hands, his hair. Every little bit of him had become absolute filth. It made him literally hurl. Even his fingernails. Heck, the dirt under his nails was dirty.

He puked again.

Why oh why was he put through such torture?

Why was he beaten and raped? Why was he still alive?

He couldn't even protect Rin any longer. She had been broken, just as he had. There was no escape for either of them.

No escape but death.

He breathed in a shaky breath and moaned aloud. Is this really what he had become? Suicidal to the extreme, overcome by sheer terror that she would come and hurt him some more? He couldn't stand it any longer. He wanted to die.

But could he do it?

Could he take his own life?

Souta's head slouched down and his gaze locked on the intense white tiles on the floor of the bathroom. His vision flicked quickly to his wrists and back to the floor again. He was seeing it all.

Slowly.

His blood was flowing from the gash in his wrist, leaking around his skinny arm and dropping in a steady beat onto the ground. The liquid seemed to become bloody rivers in the outlines of every tile.

Souta snapped his whole body away from his crouching position on the floor. What was wrong with him? His hands flew to his wrists.

Dry. No blood. No cut.

He was alive and his blood was all where it should be. Pumping in his veins and arteries. Under his skin.

Shaking, he turned the water on, watching the sink swallow up his insides.

There was a knock on the bathroom door, and Souta froze. Was it her? Was she back for him already? No, it couldn't be, she was out to her daily social gatherings, raising money for was she said was for the orphanage.

The knock came again, and Souta turned off the water, taking in a deep breath.

"Souta?"

A small, shaky voice seeped through from the other side of the door.

"Rin?!" Souta threw open the door to see her standing before him, her small frame quivering, much like his was before. "Rin..." He choked out, falling to his knees so he was at her height. He looked her in the eyes as her arms came around his neck in a hug.

"Rin feels sick..." She hiccupped through her tears, resting her head on his shoulder.

He held her there for a few minuets until her hiccups stopped and her breathing slowed to a steady pace.

Then he picked her up and walked her slowly to the long room stuffed with every orphan's bed. The children were talking quietly, sleeping, reading. None made eye contact with Souta. They all knew what happened. None wanted to be next.

Slowly, he laid Rin down on his bed, crawling in with her, and holding her tight. He felt her cheeks. Her tears hadn't dried yet. He breathed in her ruffled hair and hugged her close to him. How could he possibly keep her safe? It wasn't like he could get her to run by herself. She'd never last out on the streets alone. And he couldn't-

"I dare ya ta do it."

"No way! What if he goes crazy?"

"Just poke im' will ya?"

Souta's ears pricked up at the whispered voices between two of the younger boys. This is what he had become. A game to the other kids. A new form of amusement. He felt the pressure of something on his lower back. He didn't want to leave Rin. "G'way." He mumbled over his shoulder.

The boys snickered. "Nah, I think we'll poke ya some more."

"Yeah." The taller boy of the two, who seemed to be taking orders from the shorter one, poked him with a stick that he was holding again.

Short boy took a step closer. "We heard ya and little Rin screamin' last night."

Tall boy snickered.

"Sounds ta me like ya like it up the arse."

"Yeah, and little Rin must like it too."

That was it. Souta couldn't take anymore.

Not one God-Damn second more of any of it.

With a shriek of someone gone mad, Souta leapt from the bed, startling Rin awake and making the two older boys start in fright. He flew at Short boy, wrapping his skinny fingers around his neck and tackling him to the ground.

He squeezed.

He squeezed with all his might, not willing to let go until they pried his cold, dead fingers off of him.

Sparks flew in front of his eyes, and Souta fell hard onto his side.

Rin started to cry. Loud, wailing sobs that alerted everyone in the room. They ran over to form a circle, watching, amazed.

Dazed, Souta brought his hand up to the side of his head and winced at the large lump already forming at his temple. His vision swam, and he looked up to see Tall boy holding a knife. He had hit Souta with the handle, forcing him to lose concentration. But not for long.

It was all slow motion for Souta. He stood and cocked his fist back.

It rocketed through the air at Tall boy.

Tall boy lifted his knife in defense.

And the devil himself could not have planed it better.

The knife cut Souta.

Right across his wrist.

For a few moments, time stood still. Everyone held their breath. The only sound made was Souta's blood finally flowing down his fingertips and hitting the floor, one large, gooey drop at a time.

And then Souta's vision went black.

His heart slowed.

And its' beat was gone.

g.i.

g.i.

Kouga set his phone down slowly, the buzzing sound telling him that InuYasha had hung up on him echoing through his head.

Damn him.

Damn him and his I'm-so-rich-I-can-order-you-around-because-you're-not-as-rich-as-I-am attitude.

Kouga wasn't usually the jealous type. He usually had nothing to be jealous about. He was good looking, well off money wise, and a bachelor, always looking for a good time, never having any trouble impressing the ladies.

The problem was, he wasn't InuYasha.

The thought almost killed him.

InuYasha was gorgeous. He was a multi-billionaire. He had servants and politicians at his beck and call. He even had a fan club of screaming, rabid girls, ranging from ages six to ninety-six.

Kouga did NOT have a fan club.

Damn him.

"Mr. Noubui?"

Kouga's thoughts snapped back into reality. He shook his head slightly and glanced at his phone.

"Mr. Noubui?"

Glancing down at his hands, he realized that he had been gripping tightly to his desk, his knuckles turning white.

He let go slowly and sucked in air through his nose. He needed to calm down.

Calm down.

"Mr. Noubui, are you there?"

Kouga pressed down on the intercom button on his phone. "Yes, Mrs. Sasaki, what is it?" He clenched his jaw in irritation. What an annoying woman.

"Sesshomaru is here to see you."

"Ah!" A bit of good news, finally. "Send him in right away."

Not even a second later, the doors flew open and in walked the prettiest man on earth.

Kouga stood and bowed graciously, a grin on his face. "Sesshomaru! How are you this fine day?"

"Let us cut to the chase." Sesshomaru sat down at Kouga's desk and flopped a large manila file in front of him. "These are what you've asked for. They're all there."

"Are they, now?" Kouga asked as he walked to the back of his desk and sat down also, flipping through the papers. A few seconds later, he closed the file and grinned at Sesshomaru. "Perfect. The money will be transferred to your Swiss account at midnight tonight."

"Wonderful." Sesshomaru stood and turned to leave.

"Oh! Sesshomaru!" Kouga grinned as Sesshomaru stopped, his back still to him. "How is our lovely Kikyo, by the way?"

There was a pause before he answered. "She's as she was the last time you inquired about her. Now never contact me again if you wish to live a full life."

He left.

Kouga breathed.

That guy scared the living shit out of him.

Shaking his head a little to clear his thoughts, Kouga pressed the intercom button on his phone. "Mrs. Sasaki?"

"Yes, Mr. Noubui?"

"Get Kitari on the phone. I have an assignment for him."

"Yes, Mr. Noubui."

Kouga grinned to himself as he sat back in his seat, folding his hands behind his head. 'Just you wait, InuYasha.' He thought to himself. 'You'll get yours.'

Kouga had a plan. A rather nasty one at that. InuYasha was going down. But he didn't have time to bask in all his self-glory. He needed to think of other things. Like how to keep InuYasha from suspecting that what was about to hit him was the source of Kouga's brilliance.

Now how to deal with this whole 'adoption phase' that InuYasha seemed to be going though? A child was a huge responsibility. There had to be some other reason for why he suddenly had maternal instincts. Kouga shook his head. Oh well. They had a meeting set up for the end of the week. He'd get the details then. Depending on what was really happening to get InuYasha to act even more insane than he was, Kouga was sure he could spin it to benefit his goal.

"Mr. Noubui, Kitari is on line one."

"Very good, Mrs. Sasaki." He reached over and pressed the button for the corresponding line. "Kitari?"

"Kouga! What's up man?!" Kitari's voice sounded a bit too happy for Kouga's taste. "I hear you got something for me?"

Kouga folded his hands in front of his face, glairing in an evil sort of way. "Yes," He breathed. "an assignment."

"When do I start?"

He grinned. "Now."

g.i.

g.i.

Sango sighed and turned around for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Kagome, come on, now. Stop dawdling."

The young body-seller jumped slightly and turned to give Sango a nervous smile. "Sorry. I was just admiring the ceiling. She looked back up. "It's ratherâ€ Interesting."

Sango walked over to the girl and looked up also. "Yeah, Lord Kobun is a Michelangelo fan. His favorite painting was 'The Birth of Adam.'" She sighed. "I'm not too sure if putting himself and his wife up there was the greatest idea ever, though." She took hold of the young girl's arm and started to drag her again in the direction of InuYasha's office. "Come on, you'll be late."

The girl let herself be dragged along, her mouth still agape. "Didn't anyone tell him how gaudy that looks?"

Sango laughed. "No. No, I'm sure everyone here likes their heads where they are, hun." They turned a corner and came to a long hallway, making their way to the double doors at the end. "Here we are. Good luck." She opened the door and let Kagome step through, closing it behind her.

Sango breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Maybe she'll be out of here sooner than I thought."

g.i.

g.i.

The door opened.

And there she was, still looking as nervous as ever.

She stopped, looking around in awe, shrinking down to her smallest size.

I watched her for a few seconds. Even though I was a few feet away from her, it was like she hadn't noticed me.

I cleared my throat.

She jumped.

"Kagome, come sit down. I have some news about your brother."

Nodding, she swiftly walked over and plopped down into the chair across from me. "Is he alright?"

I shrugged. "No idea, honestly." Her face fell, so I gave her my best reassuring smile. "But don't worry. I talked to my lawyer, and we've found the orphanage. Friday we'll go in and talk to him about adoption procedures. Now." I leaned in close and folded my hands, making sure to give her eye contact. "I'm only doing this as your employer. Because you're underage you can't adopt your brother, which is why my name will be on the papers as his guardian. But let's get this straight." He paused for effect. "I can not and will not be able to in any way take care of this kid. That's your responsibility. Am I clear?"

She nodded, looking down.

"Okay then. Let's go."

She blinked, looking up at me. "Go where?" She asked in her meek voice.

"Shopping." I stated, hopping she couldn't tell how much I would hate every bit of it. "You'll need an outfit for tonight."

"What's tonight?"

"Dinner." I started walking towards the doors to my office. "We're having dinner with my parents tonight."

"Tonight?" She squeaked out.

"Yes, tonight." I looked at her quizzically, noticing that she wasn't following me. "Well, come on girl." I snapped. "We don't have all day."

Hastily, she stood and walked at a steady pace behind me. She was obviously still scared of me, even though I'd repeatedly told her not to be. I glanced behind me and noticed that she was trying to say something. "What?"

"Um.." She stated, looking down. She fidgeted with the hem of the pants she was wearing and tapped her foot sheepishly on the ground. "Do you mind if I change into something moreâ€ comfortable?"

I raised my eyebrow. "Comfortable? You don't like my mother's clothes?"

"No!" She all but shouted, then blushed and shook her head. "I mean, I do like them." She paused. "I love them. But I-"

"You...?"

"I just would feel less... awkward if I put some sweats on or something"

I sighed and turned to face her fully, a disbelieving look on my face. "If that's what you want, fine. Go change. I'll be waiting in the limo."

She blanched, visibly. "L-limo?!" She stammered.

"Yes." I answered her. "The limo. Now hurry, we gotta find you a dress."

She didn't answer, but nodded, and ran off in the direction of her room. I turned and headed down the curved stairway that ran up both sides of the entrance room.

"Ah! InuYasha, dear?"

I stopped and turned. My mother was at the top of the stairs, waving down at me. I smiled. "Mother! How are you this afternoon?"

"Oh, I'm fine dear." She said, making her way gracefully down the stairs and holding out her hand out to me. I took it and bowed low, giving a little kiss on the back. After I straightened, she shook her head. "Give your mother a hug."

I leaned in, smelling her hair. My mother was so perfect. The model woman. How my father had ever even gotten her to fall for him, I'd never know. She finally pulled back and I smiled genuinely at her.

She smiled back. "Dinner is tonight at eight o'clock sharp, InuYasha. I'm sure you and this mystery girl of yours won't be late?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, mother."

"See that you don't."

I nodded and turned, walking out the door.

g.i.

g.i.

Lady Sae watched her son head out the door, a loving expression upon her face before she turned and headed for the kitchen. Maybe the cook would have something for her to snack on. Like bread and cheese and pairsâ€ There was something about sweet and bitter that just-

She gasped.

Lady Sae blinked a few times, unsure of what she'd just seen.

Maybe she was going crazy.

Because there was no way that that girl could be out of the asylum. Not yet. She still wasn't healthy.

"Kikyo..."

g.i.

g.i.

I ran down the stairs and out the door onto the driveway, making my way (much more comfortably) to the limo. It was sleek and black and beautiful, right out of a fairy tale. I couldn't have been more awe-struck if I had tried. The door opened for me and I hopped in, sliding across the seat.

InuYasha sat across from me.

He looked at what I was wearing and sneered. "Where did you find those?" He asked.

I looked down. "Well, Sango let me borrow some of her stuff." I smiled. "I love baggy stuff." I had on a pair of grey cotton-string pants and a heavy pink hoodie, covering my body.

He shrugged as the limo started to pull away. "Whatever you want." He said. "Now, I have to go to the bank to drop off a package for my father. Here's some cash." He handed me a wad of bills. "That's ten thousand."

I gapped. "Dollars?"

He smirked. "Dollars. Go buy a dress while I'm in the bank. I won't be long. I'll meet you in the store."

I could only nod dumbly.

The limo pulled up to the bank and the doors opened. I slipped out after InuYasha. He pointed down the street where there were a long row of shops. "Go on. Get anything you want." He paused. "Make sure you look nice in it, okay? You need to impress my parents."

And with that, he turned and headed into the bank.

I stood there for a few seconds, trying to get everything to make some sort of sense. It had to all be a dream. It had to be. Shaking my head, I took off down the street, a small bounce in my step. I was excided. Never before in my life was I ever able to spend money like this. Ever. I wasn't even able to sell my virginity for a thousand, much less ten.

I passed shop after shop, looking in windows, imagining that I had this or that.

And then something amazing happened.

There it was.

The perfect dress.

Something that I never would have even thought I could slip on in a million years, and yetâ€. Here I was. Standing right at the window with a wad of cash in my hands, just begging to be spent on something as gorgeous as that dress.

I looked up at the sign hanging above the door. 'Amour Boutique.' It was such a pretty name, and, as lame and cliché as it sounds, I almost cried.

It was like a dream.

I was going to walk in and buy the most beautiful dress on the planet earth, with cash that I actually held in my hands. Cash that hadn't been stolen, or been earned by my body. It was real money that had been given to me, with nothing being wanted in return except to act affectionate.

And hey, I had no problem doing that.

I had to do it all the time for the business that I was in.

Used to be in, I mean.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door, hearing the tiny bells ring together as I stepped into the cool atmosphere of the fancy store. I looked around, noticing that there weren't very many people shopping. Two people, to be exact. It was just soâ€ Beverly Hills. A store that only movie stars went to. I bent over to look at the dress in the window. The perfect dress. My hand reached out. If I could only touch it, it would be enough. I would die happy.

"Ah-HEM."

Startled, I jumped back, as if I had done something terribly wrong. I turned to see a stiff-looking sales lady, her suit pressed and her hair in a bun, a cold smile plastered on her face.

"I'm sorry, but are you lost?"

I blinked. What? "Um. No." I answered, confused. "But," I pointed to the dress. "I would like to try that on."

Her smile faltered, and her face turned to stone. "I'm afraid we don't have that in your size."

My eyebrows scrunched together as she looked my up and down. Was this seriously happening? "Well, I'd like to try it on, anyway."

"It's very expensive." She explained.

"And I have the cash." I snapped, holding out my hand to show her my wad of bills.

She sneered down at my hand, as if it was dirty. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

I shook my head. "I get it. I see what's going on here." I paused, somewhat for a dramatic effect, but mostly because I was on the verge of crying. "I'm going. It's nice to know that there are people like you in the world."

Her face didn't change it's cold expression as I left, the bells ringing in my ears behind me. I turned and headed towards the bank, stomping out my aggression. Hot, angry tears started to fall over my lashes.

I hated what I was.

It didn't matter that I had money. All they saw was someone who was dirty. Someone who wasn't classy. Someone ugly.

I was ugly.

I wasn't watching where I was going, and while I was pitying myself, I walked right into a brick wall.

A brick wall that happened to be my demon employer.

"What the-? Hey!" He grabbed my shoulders hard. "Watch where you're going, wench!"

I let out a sob as an answer.

He blinked a few times, confused. "Hey! Hey, what the hell's wrong with you?" He shook me a few times. "Stop crying. Stop it now."

I hiccupped.

"What the hell happened?"

Wiping my eyes, I looked up at him. "They wouldn't let me buy the dress."

"What?"

"They told me to leave." I shook my head. "It's not going to work, InuYasha. I can't pull it off. I'm too ugly."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "They sell dresses to ugly people all the time, girl. It's not you. What store did you go into?"

"A-Amour Boutique." I sniffed. How embarrassing. I was such a crybaby.

He huffed. "Stop crying already. My mother owns that place. Let's go." He grabbed onto my wrist and started to pull me in the direction of the store.

"Wh-what are you going to do?" I asked, slightly intimidated.

"I'm taking you shopping, that's what I'm doing." He marched me right up to the boutique and slammed open the doors, the bells jingling violently.

Two salesladies hurried over, sour expressions on their faces. "What in heavens-" They froze, their mouths agape, staring at InuYasha. "M-Mr. Kobun! Wh-what can I do for you?"

InuYasha pushed me in front of him, my cheeks bright red with embarrassment. "Kagome, which one was it?" He asked me, never taking his gaze off them.

I pointed to the lady wearing the bun. "Her." I said.

"You." He snapped at the lady. "You're fired. Do not come back here, and do not look for any jobs around here. You've been blacklisted."

The woman drew in a sharp breath, her mouth hanging open. "Bu-"

"Get out. You're trespassing."

The lady ran down the steps and pushed past me, sobbing into her hands.

InuYasha turned to glare at the other woman who was standing frozen, afraid that she was next. "Do you have a problem selling my fiancé here a dress?" He asked, a bite in his voice.

"O-of course not!" The lady stammered. She walked up to me and took me by the arm, leading me over to the back room. "You just get undressed in here. I'll bring you the dress."

I nodded and walked in, my mind whirling. InuYasha was soâ€ harsh. I had only been at his place for one night, and I was already very, very afraid of him. But

There was just something that made me want to stay close to him. I mean, besides the fact that I wasn't selling my body anymore, I had a good income now, and my brother was about to be busted out (legally) of the orphanage, there was justâ€ something.

I shook my head to clear the funk as the saleslady opened the curtain slightly to hand me the dress. "Here you go." She said, her voice shaking. "Please let me know when you have it on."

"Thank you." I said, in my kindest voice possible. She was obviously only being nice because of InuYasha, but at least she was trying. Maybe she'd learn to treat everyone with respect now.

I slipped off the sweat pants and the hoodie, and looked at the dress in front of me. Taking in a deep breath, I slipped it over my head, and felt the cool satin slip over my warm skin. It fell down to my ankles, and draped over my chest, showing just enough but not too much. In the back, silver ribbon cris-crossed, showing of my slender backbone. The silver shone over my hips and legs, making my eyes water to the point where I thought I would dissolve into tears again.

The curtains shook slightly, bringing me out of my stupor. "Are you ready?"

I nodded. "Yes." My voice cracked with emotion.

"Then let's see it." And before I could reply, she pulled back the curtain, revealing me to the world. She gasped. "That dress." She paused. "Is absolutely perfect for you."

I smiled.

"Mr. Kobun." She called. "Come and see."

I could hear InuYasha grumbling as he made his way over to the dressing room. He stopped suddenly as his eyes landed on me, his face a mask. After a few seconds, his eyebrow raised. "Well." He said. "I suppose it will do." He glanced at the sales lady. "Ring it up."

She bowed. "Right away."

My heart pounded. What did he think of it? He wasn't showing anything to me.

"You like it?" He asked.

I nodded, blushing.

"Good. We're done here then. Let's keep going. You'll need your own wardrobe if you're going to work for me."

I smiled. "Okay."

"Get out of that dress." He replied. "We need to keep it clean till tonight."

g.i.

g.i.

"Baby... Hush. We'll see daddy soon."

Sesshomaru shook his head. "There's no baby."

She looked up at him, glaring. "Don't say that to the baby. You'll upset him."

"There is no baby."

"But InuYasha-"

"InuYasha is not here. There is no baby, so you need to get over it."

She paused, then placed a finger up into the air, writing words that he couldn't make out. "But I need InuYasha." She replied. "I need InuYasha to come with me to hell to see the baby."

"You won't see InuYasha."

She paused. "He need's to come with me to hell."

g.i.

g.i.

g.i.

Okay, that's it. Hope you guys liked it. Guess what, I have ANOTHER final coming up. Most of you are probably thinking: Didn't you just HAVE a final? My answer is yes. I did. Here at the Art Institute of California-San Francisco, there is an accelerated program that goes by quarters instead of semesters. Each quarter is three months long and contains a semester's worth of work crammed into it. Every year, I have FOUR midterms and FOUR finals.

So now you understand why I rarely have time to write. I'm busy painting and animating and script writing.

But I love you all for sticking to me. I hope you've liked this chapter.

Goddess InuYasha


	6. To Hide A Scar

I'm so fucking PISSED OFF at FF.N and quickedit. I just might move it all to Media Minor. I'll fix the problems later, guys, I'm too pissed off to do it right now. Sorry about them. Stupid Quickedit isn't showing my question marks.

* * *

Hey everyone. I know it's been a long time. And I know I promised not to take so long in the last post… O.O; 

Anyway, I feel the least I can do for you all is to answer some of your questions.

Baby Shadow: No worries about me stopping. I love fanfiction. It's a great way for me to procrastinate. ;

IBrainedMyDamage: I suggest you rent the movie and watch it. What am I saying? Buy the damn thing. It's so addictive. Especially if you're a Julia Robert's buff. (I get a lot of crap for liking her. What can I say? She's GREAT at drama.)

Kitsune55: Does Souta die? Maybe…. shifty eyes

DarklessVasion: Thank you! And I agree with everything you said. "Smack downs" from good guys always make me feel better. XD

Addanc-TSC: Please, call me Goddess.

Lilswallow: Never mention that school to me again. I spit on that school! heated school-pride takes over Damn the Academy of Art! No, the school I go to is called the Art Institute of California-San Francisco. If I went to the Academy, I would say I go to the Academy, and not the Art Institute.

That's all for now. I won't make you guys wait any longer, I know it's been forever. Enjoy.

GoddessInuYasha

* * *

Chapter 6: To Hide A Scar. 

"Mrs. Sasaki"

"Yes, sir"

"Get the orphanage on the phone. I believe it's Kurai Orphanage."

"Yes, sir."

"And set up an appointment for this upcoming Monday. InuYasha wants this child adopted as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh. And Mrs. Sasaki"

"Yes, sir"

"I must pay a visit to dear, old Kikyo this afternoon. Clear my schedule."

"But, Mr. Noubui, sir"

"DO it, Mrs. Sasaki."

"...Yes, sir."

* * *

Kitari leaned his slim back up against the concrete wall of the Carmel Café, a high-classed place lost in a sea of a high-classed society. What was it about people that made them dress and act like they were cut from cardboard? So stiff and arrogant. He watched as a tall, quite stunning female dressed in all white walked a sultry walk in front of him. She gave him a coy smile, and, lowering his super-dark sunglasses, he offered one in return, no more. He had a job. 

He glanced across the street and scratched the back of his head, wishing he could follow the lovely piece-of-meat-in-white, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a packet of Newport Menthols, popping up a cigarette like a pro and closing his lips over the tip. His thumb clicked absently at the switch of his lighter as he leaned his head down away from the slight breeze and lit the tip. He inhaled.

Ahhhhh.

Now that was the shit.

Nothing like starting a new job with a fresh pack of fags. He could practically feel the smoke filling up his lungs and swirling around as the nicotine seeped quickly into his bloodstream. And the best part was, he would never get lung cancer. Youkai didn't get lung cancer. Or any other type of cancer, as it was.

Kitari tapped the toe of his shoe in a rather bored way, wishing the job wasn't just for surveillance. He was hoping for action. For adventure and a couple of fights here and there. Not for tagging behind the son of a rich Youkai bastard and his human girlfriend. He glanced at his watch and looked again at the boutique the happy little couple had been in for over half an hour. How long did it take for the damn woman to buy a dress?

He flicked the end of his cigarette, watching the ashes fall onto the sidewalk, before snapping his head up at the sound of the boutique's door chime ringing. The human girl stepped out into the sunlight in her ugly pink hoodie and dirt-grey string pants. He hair was pulled up into a simple pony tail and she wore no makeup.

That was the thing that bothered Kitari. Why was the great Youkai Lord's son dating a girl so... low-class? No one who came from around here would be caught dead wearing that outfit. It was just so... Blah. He shook his head and placed his hand nonchalantly by the side of his head, squeezing the censor on the rim of his glasses between his index finger and his thumb. The glasses automatically zoomed in on the pretty girl's face.

Huh. She was so plain-looking. InuYasha was the type to usually be seen with super-models and actresses. Girls that wore perfect clothes and perfect makeup and had perfect hair. So why in all seven of the hells was he with HER?

And then she stretched her arms out and looked up towards the sun.

And she smiled.

And she was utterly stunning.

"Jesus..." Kitari swore, studying her face up-close with his glasses. That must be it. The girl had no style, but damn, was her smile perfect. But could that really be it? InuYasha just wasn't the type to be so... non-shallow.

He jumped suddenly, his pocket vibrating. Cursing at himself for getting distracted, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a razor phone, flipping it open and placing it against his ear. "It's Kitari."

"Have you made contact"

"Christ, give me a little time, will ya? I've been following them, but I need to get the girl alone. And even then, It'll take a bit for her to trust me."

The voice on the other end grew angry, and Kitari swore he heard a pencil snap in the background. Kouga DID have a bit of a strong grip. "Do it faster. InuYasha's rep will go down with the human girl, and if that happens"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Kitari rolled his eyes. "It'll be done in a week."

"Make it three days."

He pulled the phone away from his ear, the loud buzz informing Kitari that Kouga had hung up. He glared down at the screen, as if Kouga himself could see him. "Yeah, goodbye to you too." Snorting, he pocketed the phone and looked across the street.

"Wait..." Kitari looked to his right. He looked to his left. "Shit" He cried, throwing his hands up into the air in frustration. "Where the hell did they go" He took off towards his crotch rocket, angry at himself for losing them.

Not that it would matter.

He'd have the human girl crazy for him in three days. At least, he would if he didn't want to be dead.

* * *

I could tell instantly that her mood had changed. She was so... smiley. And there was an extra skip to her step as we walked down the sidewalk, me carrying her dress in a girly-looking bag, her giggling every so often at thoughts of her own. What the hell was making her so happy? A dress couldn't be it. Right? I mean, no girl I'd ever known in my entire life had ever been so happy over a stupid dress. 

I watched her ponytail bob with her steps, and was slightly surprised when she turned and grinned at me.

"Thank you."

I grunted. "What for"

"For getting me the dress." Her grin widened. "I've never been able to wear a dress like that."

I rolled my eyes. "It's a damn dress for Christ stake. What are you so happy about a stupid dress for"

She stopped walking and turned her entire body to face me. "Well, I mean, I never had any chance to wear something made of such good material." She looked up at me, a quizzical expression on her face. "You think they'd ever let us wear something like that in the orphanage"

I shrugged. "What about before the orphanage? I thought all little girls wore pretty dresses."

She shook her head. "All little girls but me, I guess."

I cringed, inwardly. In the matter of three seconds flat her entire being had changed. Her shoulders drooped, and her head hung a little. Her eyes fogged over, and the corners of her mouth were slightly turned down. Her entire body seemed to contract into itself. She brought her hands up to squeeze her arms, as if she were cold.

God Dammit. This just wouldn't do. My parents couldn't see her like this. They'd know she wasn't... Well... They'd know there was something wrong. I needed to make her feel better. Inwardly, I sucked in a breath and prepared myself to comfort her, something I was never EVER any good at.

"Listen" I said, dropping my voice down so it was slightly less harsh. "I know it must have been really awful for you."

She looked up at me, her head tilted slightly, her eyes searching mine. I forced my hand to touch her chin. A form of comfort. "But things are going to be better now. Okay? You have a dress" I held up the girly bag. "You have a job you're being paid for, and we're getting your brother back."

Her eyes lightened a little, and I bit back a grin of triumph. Females were so easy to manipulate. "Feeling better yet"

She smiled a relaxed slightly. "A little." She admitted.

"Well, it's a start." I said. "Now, I know you feel more comfortable in those... Clothes." I said the last word as disgustingly as I could to get my point across. "But, why don't we get you some stuff for YOU. Some stuff that you can wear that's not so baggy."

She hugged herself again, and looked around nervously. "Um, InuYasha... I just... I know you're my boss, and I'm being paid to... be with you and all, but..." She stopped, and after a few seconds, I realized she wasn't going to continue. Again, I sucked in a breath.

Leaning down, I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Okay, you need to tell me what's going on. Because I can't help you if you don't. Let's get some coffee."

"I don't drink coffee." She informed me quietly, blushing slightly. Whether or not it was because I was so close, I couldn't tell. She could have just been embarrassed about not liking coffee.

"Well" I said, not really caring all that much. I just needed her to get over it. I just needed her to pull off being a happy engaged woman. "hot chocolate, then"

Thinking, she nodded. "Okay." She said, smiling. "Hot chocolate sounds good."

"Okay." I said, relieved that I didn't have to deal with this much longer. Let her get her whole sob story out, and have her be over it. That way she could concentrate on pretending to be my fiancé. Simple.

I led her to a little coffee shop, across the street from where we stood. It was sickeningly cute inside, all flowery and pastel-colored. But Kagome seemed to like it, and I could deal so long as she told her story quickly. I ordered myself a large black, before ordering her hot chocolate, and after receiving our drinks, we sat down at a round little table made for two right next to the window.

"No sugar" She asked me, and I realized then that she was starting to feel more comfortable around me. Around the fact that I was a demon. Half, anyway.

I shook my head. "I don't really have much of a sweet tooth."

She smiled slightly. "I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I used to put sugar on almost everything."

"Healthy." I informed her, in an unemotional tone. Why was she talking about sugar? I needed her to talk about her stupid life problems. And I was completely itching to get out of this ridiculous café.

"Yeah..." Her voice trailed off as she looked out the window and onto the street, placing her jaw in the palm of her hand.

"So..." I said, a few seconds later as she picked up her hot chocolate and blew on the surface lightly. "Tell me what you were so jumpy about back there. I can't help you if I don't know.

She sighed, and set down the mug, looking sadly into the dark watery depths of the mug. "The short version or the long version" She asked.

'The short version.' I preyed. On the outside, I shrugged. "Whatever you feel like telling me works." I sat silently, waiting for her to begin. I had to be patent. Had to let her be ready.

Inhaling a breath, she started. "I was twelve when I first ran away from the orphanage. To tell you the truth, I don't remember much before that. I mean" She paused to bite her lip. "I remember my mom. And I know that she died. I just don't really remember how. I'm not even sure I ever KNEW how. To me she didn't really die, she just kinda... disappeared. I think Souta felt the same way."

"Souta. You're brother" I asked.

She nodded.

"And how old is he now"

"Eleven." She held her hands under the table, but I could tell that she was wringing her fingers together with stress. "He was six when I left. I knew I had to leave to be able to get him out one day. That, plus..." Her eyes darted back and forth nervously. "The headmistress wasn't all that nice to me."

"What, did she beat you"

She shrugged. "You could say that." Pause. "She didn't beat me, no. She did other stuff, though. Other stuff that I know messed me up." Her gaze fogged over again, and her eyes turned to look out the window, as if her memory was on the other side of the glass, and she was watching it from where she sat.

"...Stuff like what"

She shook her head, as if she had forgotten where she was for a second. "Oh..." She replied. "Nothing." Slowly, she took a long sip of her liquid chocolate, and my eyes darted down to watch her throat muscles flex. She had kind of a slender neck...

"Anyway, that's not really the point." She told me, licking a bit of chocolate from the corner of her mouth. "I started selling my body when I realized I couldn't do much else for money. Been doing it ever since. I just... I guess I don't like wearing clothes that show a lot of skin. It kind of shows off my scars. And I feel that people know, you know? What I'd been doing before you hired me."

I paused, frowning. For some reason, I was interested. "Scars"

She pulled the ends of the sleeves on her pink hoodie so they covered her wrists and palms. "Yeah. Some guys, you know, pay extra to do certain things to you."

My grip on the coffee mug tightened.

"If I was in dire need for cash, quick, I'd let them do stuff for a bit more money."

"Wait a second." I bit out. I could feel myself get angrier by the minute. "I didn't notice any scars when you were trying on the dress."

She shook her head. "No, more likely than not, you wouldn't. They're not very noticeable, really. They're very small, but to me it's like everyone can see them."

I gazed steadily at her, my jaw tight and my fists clenched onto the mug. "Let me see them."

Her face turned bright red, and she looked down at the table. "InuYasha, sir"

"Let. Me. See. Them."

She bit her lip.

"Kagome." I bit out, seeing red. "Show me a scar."

She shook her head, slowly. "No. I don't want you to see them."

That was it. I was furious. "Could you BE any more STUPID." I seethed, slamming down my mug and shattering it. Luckily, I had drunk the rest of the coffee, so none spilled anywhere. But everyone in the little coffee shop turned their eyes onto us anyway.

Kagome's eyes widened, and she let out a little whimper.

"Gimmie your God Damn hand." I ordered, and before she could answer, I grabbed onto her wrist and yanked her out of her chair. Pulling her behind me, I led us out of the café and into the street again. Heads turned as I dragged her towards a hip fashion store for women.

She struggled behind me. "InuYasha, sir, what are you"

"Kagome, I'll fire you if you call me 'sir' again. I'm not an old man, dammit." I didn't slow my pace as I entered the store. A young girl in a skirt and tank top stepped nervously in front of me, glancing from me to Kagome and back to me again.

"Hey, can I help you guys" She popped her gum.

"I need an outfit for my fiancé." I said, my grip still on Kagome's wrist. "Make it look good. I need sexy. Something for her to wear to a party."

The girl nodded. "Yes sir, Mr. Kobun, sir." She replied. Jesus, was there anyone in the entire God Damn world that didn't know who I was?

Kagome read my thoughts. "Wow." She muttered. "Are you not known ANYWHERE"

I snorted. "Come on." My voice was demanding, and I pulled her towards the back and all but flung her into one of the dressing rooms. "Now" I said, positioning myself in the doorway so she couldn't even think about getting out"you're going to try on these outfits, and we're not leaving this store until you get it through your head that you don't scream 'prostitute.' At least, not anymore."

The sales girl hurried towards us with a pile of clothes. "Will these do" She asked me.

I shrugged, stepping out of the doorway. "Get in there and help her try them on. I want to see every outfit. If we find a few we like, you'll get a big tip."

Her mouth dropped open.

"Well" I asked, impatient. "Get in there."

She nodded, and joined Kagome in the dressing room, pulling the curtain closed.

I sat down and locked my gaze on the curtain. I was still in a complete and utter rage. What kind of sick bastard would scar a young girl for pleasure? What a fucked-up world I lived in. And that young girl had seen the worst of it. She was only seventeen, for Christ sake! Had she really been forcibly scarred since she was twelve?

...Not that I cared, of course. I mean, I cared, yeah, but I'd have cared if it was anyone else. I did NOT care because she had a slender neck. Or smooth skin. Or pretty, ebony hair. Or a smile that could probably brighten up any type of day.

I mentally shook my head. What the hell was wrong with me? Was I going crazy? She wasn't my type. She wasn't a super model or an actress. She wasn't even a porn star. No one famous. Nothing at all remotely special about her. In fact, she was a horrible person to be with, just because of all the baggage she was carrying around with her. Not that I could blame her, of course. Anyone with her past would have baggage. I just didn't like baggage.

And ever since I had met her, she'd been dumping it on me over and over.

...I guess it's what I deserved, seeing as I was the one who plucked her off the street.

Jesus, she could have AIDS, and I wouldn't know the difference.

'...I should probably have her tested.' I thought, running my clawed hand through my hair. 'For a lot of things. Make sure she's healthy.' I placed it on the top of my mental to-do list.

"No, put your arm through here." The sales girl was saying, popping her gum again.

My ear twitched as I heard her speak.

"Um..." Came Kagome's meek voice. "Like this"

"Yeah, there you go." Pop"So, what's the deal"

"The deal with what"

"You and Mr. Kobun, of course" Pop! Pop!

I leaned forward slightly, needing to hear what Kagome would say. Maybe I'd learn something about her I wouldn't be able to otherwise.

"You mean InuYasha? Um, well…" I could practically hear her blush. "Nothing."

"Really" Came the girl's skeptic tone. "You're not his new girlfriend"

Kagome didn't answer.

"You're not an actress, are you" Pop"Of course you aren't." She answered her own question. "You're too shy to be an actress. Do your parents own a big corporation, or something? You something of a trust-fund kid"

"Um. No. Nothing like that." Her voice was getting lower, which pissed me off. The girl was making Kagome upset.

"Huh. I should have known you weren't his girlfriend. I mean, you're nice-looking and all, but you're kinda plain, you know" Pop!

My nails dug into the palms of my hands. What a little-

"Thank you."

Pop"What for" Pop!

"I've never had anyone tell me that I'm plain before, it's kind of a nice change."

My hands lost their grip and I all but froze in the plastic chair. What was I to think of that?

"Whatever." Pop"You're done"

Swiftly, I stood and opened the curtain, making the girl jump in surprise and Kagome look up at me with watery eyes.

Crap.

"Done" I asked, locking my steely gaze on the sales girl.

She gulped and nodded.

"Leave us for a few minuets."

She nodded and scurried off.

What an annoying girl. "And spit out your gum" I demanded, before turning my gaze back onto Kagome.

She stood there, with her hands clasped behind her back, her head bent down, looking at her feet, blushing. "Well" I said. "Turn around. Let me see."

Slowly, she moved. She wore a dark pink skirt that stopped mid-thigh, and a black sleeveless top, that curved around her neck and covered most of her front. As she turned, I saw that the back was held together by strings of diamonds that formed into a spider-web and showed off her slender back.

Coming full circle, her face the color of a beet, I locked my gaze on her and frowned. "I don't see any scars."

"I told you they weren't noticeable." She mumbled, embarrassed.

"Show them to me." I ordered, and closed the curtain to give us some more privacy.

For what seemed like minutes, she stood there. Then, slowly, she turned to her side and twisted her left leg so I got a pretty good view of her inside thigh. And there was the gash. It didn't stand out very well, and it wasn't too disfigured, but it was there. And that fact alone, for some reason, angered me.

"Is that all of them?"

She shook her head, and slowly, she peeled the bottom of her shirt up and showed me her right mid-hip, where another scar was placed. A tad larger then that last, and just as infuriating.

"Any more?" I seethed. I would kill them. I'd kill every last one that had scarred her.

She nodded. And slowly, as her eyes over-filled with tears, she turned her hands so her wrists showed. And on her right wrist lay a burn mark, in the shape of a heart. Kind of.

Her hands were shaking, and I grabbed onto them with my own to steady her. Absently, I ran my thumb over the burn as she let out a quiet sob. "How did this one happen?" I asked, a rare sort of emotion taking me over.

Her voice shook as she answered. "I was twelve. The first time I had sex. He…. He burned me with his cigarette." Her body dissolved into tears, and she heaved in heavy breaths.

God. I made her cry again. I had to stop her.

"Girl" I bit out"you do NOT look like a prostitute with that on." I let go of her wrists and stood up, straightening my shirt collar. "You don't look trashy, and you don't look like you're about to set up camp at the nearest money-making corner." I inhaled a deep breath and made her look up at me by forcing her chin up. "You look like a girl who could be my fiancé."

It should have made her happy, right?

I mean, it should have made her all comfortable and normal and stuff, right?

Wrong.

She cried.

Big, fat, wet tears slid down her cheeks.

"Gah" I cried out, frustrated and confused. "WHY are you still crying? Stop it! Stop it now"

"But..." She smiled through her tears and looked up at me. "But you just made me happy."

I could feel my heart speed up.

There was that damn smile again.

* * *

"Let's try this again." 

"Are you listening?"

Sesshomaru rubbed his hands up against his temples and ground his teeth together. "Kikyo, you were making such good progress a few days ago. What happened"

He sighed. "Kikyo, does this have anything to do with my brother"

Kikyo sat in a small plastic chair, facing Sesshomaru in her white room. Slowly she rocked back and forth, cradling an invisible form in her arms. Her long, black hair, which was tied back by a leather band, fell in strings in front of her face.

"Can we talk bout my brother" Sesshomaru asked, clicking the end of his pen and scribbling a few things down on the pad of yellow paper in front of him.

"How about-"

"She'll have to die, you know."

Sesshomaru stopped short, his eyebrow raised. "Who'll have to die"

"The new one. The one who has stolen him from me. She'll have to die."

"...Who stole InuYasha from you, Kikyo"

Kikyo raised her head, and her eyes flashed. "Kagome. Kagome has stolen him from me."

And then all hell broke loose.

Sesshomaru jumped up from his chair and smashed the glass covering of the emergency alarm button, as he hit it, sending sirens blaring throughout the institution. "Kikyo" He screamed out, covering his face from her wild attacks. "Kikyo! STOP"

* * *

Sango and Miroku sat across from each other in the kitchen, a bottle of beer before each of them, and a pile of cards lain neatly between them, in the form of a circle. 

Slowly, Sango reached out and drew a card. "Ha!" She exclaimed triumphantly, holding up the card so Miroku could see the bright red number six. "Six is for dicks! Drink!"

Miroku's eyes narrowed. "Are you cheating? You've got to be cheating." He said, placing his hand on his beer.

"Don't blame your bad luck on me." She said, a grin on her face. "Now chug it!" She watched with glee as Miroku placed the bottle to his lips and took a nice, big gulp.

"My turn." He said, and swiftly grabbed a card from the circle. He studied the card, making Sango almost cry out in frustration.

"What is it? What?"

Turning the card over to show Sango, it was his turn to grin. "Ace. Ace is for race. You gotta chug until I stop."

Sango groaned. "Nooo… I hate that damn rule!" She glared at Miroku, while she prepared for an ongoing battle of drunken wills. "I believe you are going to seduce me while I'm drunk."

Miroku could only snicker as he pretended to drink his beer….

* * *

Kouga flipped absently through the papers that had been neatly organized in the manila folder Sesshomaru had given him a few days ago. The information to InuYasha's demise was in this folder. As well as information to keep him grounded. So Kouga could be kept grounded. InuYasha was, after all, his boss. And he needed his boss until just the perfect time. 

But that female. That... Fiancé of his.

She had to go.

He took out two pages of information and laid them out in front of him on his desk. Kagome Higurashi. Seventeen years old. Orphan. Hmph. Surly it wasn't HER InuYasha wanted to adopt. She didn't belong to any agency.

Oh, wait.

She HAD belonged to one, but escaped when she was twelve.

Twelve, huh?

Kouga tapped a long-ish fingernail on the wood of his desk, thinking. So she'd been on her own for five years. And if it wasn't her he was adopting, then who was it?

He studied the papers.

Ah. A brother. She had a brother, eleven years old, still at Kurai Orphanage, of course. That had to be it. They were going to adopt Higurashi's younger brother.

But that didn't explain InuYasha's weird behavior. Kouga stood up from his desk and started to pace in front of his office window. First of all, this Higurashi girl had come out of nowhere. InuYasha would have said something to him if he'd been with her. She had to be new. Second, she was an orphan. Why in all the seven hells would he be dating an orphan? There wasn't anything exceptionally beautiful about her. She was plain, from the picture he had in the file.

He stopped pacing and looked down at the picture. She was on a street corner, bending over to talk to someone in a fancy car. And those clothes. She wore a blood red tube top and short shorts.

Huh. Something was fishy...

Kouga sat down at his desk again and took a sip of his coffee, reading over a certain paragraph closely.

He choked on his coffee, slamming the mug down and spitting out what he couldn't swallow onto his lap.

"Mother Fucker" He shot up and danced around, angrily patting at his crotch area. A few second later, he ran back to his desk, desperate to read and confirm what he'd just thought he'd read.

An evil laugh escaped his lips, the burn and stain on his pants forgotten.

A prostitute.

She was a common whore.

Oh. Oh, this was good. It couldn't have been better if Kouga had planed it out himself. He shuffled around for the picture of her again. She wasn't just begging for money like he'd thought she'd been doing in this picture. Oh no. She was just about to go do the nasty. For a price, of course.

Kouga knew that now it would be easy to get rid of her. Of course, that didn't explain what InuYasha was thinking. Why a prostitute, of all people? He could easily have his pick of richer, nicer-looking, nicer-SMELLING women. Why risk his reputation by picking up a whore?

And then, there was the little fact that he hadn't just picked her up and gone on his way. He was engaged to this girl. Kouga looked down at the papers again. She was seventeen now. Obviously, she'd been selling herself for a while. Probably when she realized she couldn't possibly have a normal job at the age of twelve. And why give up an orphanage life? Sure, it wasn't the best ever. They didn't get fancy things, and had to share with a lot of other kids. But it had to have been better than prostituting oneself.

Kouga bit down on his nail in thought. Well. He'd have a little talk with InuYasha. Find out a few things about the girl. From there, he'd find out if the time was right to keep InuYasha around, or ruin him.

Things were about to get... Fun.

* * *

...Beep... 

...Beep...

...Beep...

...Beep...

...Beep...

Souta's eyes opened.

Pain shot though his head, and he snapped his eyes shut, trying to bring his hand up to his head.

He couldn't move.

He couldn't move!

Panic swept over him as he screamed at himself to move.

Move.

MOVE.

MOVE!

'God Dammit!' he wanted to cry out. Why the hell was this all happening? Where was he? Why couldn't he move? What the hell was going on? The last thing he remembered was...

Fuck.

His wrist.

He opened his eyes slightly, trying to see his wrist from where he lay. It was down at his side, hidden by his hip. But there was a thin tube that ran from the spot up to a bag filled with liquid. Jesus. Was he in a hospital?

The thought made his heart speed up in excitement, and his ears perked as a beeping noise increased.

...Beep...Beep..Beep.BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep.

If he was in a hospital, then maybe they'd realize what he'd been going though. Maybe the Headmistress would be arrested and he and Rin could be free. Or at least adopted.

His eyes moved to the right, trying to figure out what the beeping noise was. He couldn't see it. It was behind him. He looked straight ahead and, with a realization that was so depressing he felt as if the world itself would end, he cried.

He wasn't in a hospital.

He wasn't safe.

He was still here.

He was still HERE, Dammit!

He tried to cry out, but all that came from his mouth was a choked, strangled grunt, barely audible. Why didn't he die? Was God so cruel that he demanded Souta live though all the torture? That he bare all the pain? That no matter what life-threatening situation he was in, he was doomed to live though? What a complete-

"And how are we feeling today" A sinister, cold voice asked. Souta opened his eyes again to look into the face of the Headmistress.

He wanted to scream. To curse. To kill. But he couldn't move. So he laid there and cried.

"Well, it doesn't matter much." She said, answering her own question. She took a few steps towards Souta, an evil glare on her face.

Souta tried to wince away, knowing that it would do no good. He knew what was coming. A slap. A hard slap to let him know what a bad little boy he'd been, getting into a fight and almost getting himself killed. If he was gone, she'd have only Rin and a few others to carry out her sick games and fantasies.

Souta waited.

And he waited.

The slap never came.

He opened his eyes slightly, wondering what had happened.

The Headmistress wasn't by his bed. She was over to his right, looking out the tainted window of the room.

But she was angry.

She was furious, and Souta could tell because she was barely able to contain it. Her knuckles were white, and her face was bright red. Her entire body shook with rage.

But... Why wasn't she taking it out on him? What the hell was going on.

After a while, she spoke, her voice low and tight. Seething. "After you rest up, you'll be taken out by Kai." She informed him, still not looking his way.

Kai? But Kai was her personal assistant. Why would she want Kai to take him out anywhere?

"You'll be bought a pair of shoes and an outfit. Make sure you look... decent." She hissed the last word.

Souta couldn't understand. Clothes? Shoes? She wanted him to get an outfit?

"You.." She said, her fury starting to show more. "Are being adopted." She bit out, before she turned and left, slamming the door behind her, making Souta flinch.

...Adopted?

Wait...

WHAT!

* * *

Explanations: 

The card game that Miroku and Sango are playing: Kings.

This game is played while trying to get drunk. The rules are as follows: Every card number has a rule to it. The players take turn drawing from the circle of cards and everyone has to obey the rules. Card numbers and rules are as follows:

Ace: Ace is a race. Everyone has to start chugging at the same time, and cannot stop until the person in front of them does.

2: Two is for you. The person who draws the card gets to pick anyone to make drink.

3: Three is for me. The person who draws a three must drink themselves.

4: Four is for whores. All females must drink.

5: Five is Categories. You name a category; Ex: condom brands, football teams. And everyone must go in a circle and name them off. First to repeat or stumble drinks.

6: Six is for dicks. All males must drink.

7: Seven is for seven drinks. The person who draws the card gets to pick anyone to give seven drinks to. He/She can divide those seven drinks out to anyone he/she wants.

8: Eight is for mate. The person who draws the card gets to pick whoever they want to drink with them.

9: Nine is to rhyme. The person who drew the card says a sentence, and everyone must do a rhyme to go along with the one before them. The first to mess up drinks.

10: Ten is for rules. The person who draws this card can make up any rule that everyone has to follow during the game. Ex: After every sentence, you must say: In Miroku's pants. Or: Every time a person drinks, they take off one piece of clothing. If you fail to follow the rule, you must drink every time.

Jacks: Jacks are back. The person sitting to the left of you must drink.

Queens: Queens are questions: Everyone must go around in a circle and ask questions, no answers. The first person to mess up, drinks.

Kings: The person who draws a king pours some of his/her drink into the cup in the middle. The person to draw the last king must chug the entire cup of whatever is in there.

During their game, Miroku is cheating, obviously, by not REALLY drinking the beer.

Hope that cleared it up for you. Anyway, I swear to GOD it won't take me this long next time. The story is about to become interesting… As for a hint to what lies ahead, let's just say I'll have to do some studying on lawyer mumbo-jumbo. Lol.

Hope you guys liked this one.

GoddessInuYasha


End file.
